PSP2: New Adventure
by AD100
Summary: After leaving the Guardians Cyruss decided to look for work as a mercenary at a newly discovered relic site. But as fate would have it he is trapped inside and forced to team up with a girl named Emilia to escape. Little did he know that his fate was sealed the moment the two crossed paths.
1. Prologue

**-Prologue-**

* * *

At the edge of the of the crowded room, next to the door leading deeper into the unexplored ruins, is where sat anxiously awaiting the go-ahead to enter.  
My heart pounded with each passing moment that felt like an eternity, I heard so many voices but couldn't understand a single word, their words were all meshed together inside my head. I began to breathe in and out uncontrollably.

Why am I here? I began to wonder.  
What possessed me to finally come out and fight after 3 long years of isolation?

I tightened my grip around my blade in a futile attempt to stop myself from trembling.  
Swordplay was never my forte, but since I found myself unable to draw up the courage to use Techniques this seemed like the better option.  
I suppose I could have picked up a gun but just shooting one feels soulless, I was afraid I'd become dehumanized, which I'm sure sounds silly just to anyone else.

Techniques are powered by our minds and by extension, our hearts.  
I suppose it was my mother who taught me the importance of the heart as a Force.  
If you somehow don't know what a _Force_ is, think about a mage in any fantasy RPG with a spell set, and that's about it.

After losing my partner I sort of shut down, their death had left its mark on both my mind and my heart.  
In my current state, even attempting to use them could have caused further damage to my psyche.  
On top of that, just the simple act of holding a staff caused some unpleasant memories to surface.

After what happened I found it difficult to even sleep at night... but I guess it could have been worse, right?  
I mean it wasn't like I was the only one to lose someone, right? My problems seem minuscule to those around me,  
I couldn't help but feel guilty for even feeling that way.

"I am a weak man," I told myself. So I forced myself back into the world.  
My partner died to save it, I couldn't sit back and wallow in self-pity.

I couldn' return to my previous job so doing security jobs as a mercenary seemed like the next best thing,  
and that's how I got stuck in this hole with several other Mercenaries looking for easy money.

"This site must have a hotshot sponsor to bring out this many people," A robotic voice snapped me out of my thoughts, I turned to see a silver CAST leaning against the wall next to me with his arms crossed. I tried to cover up my trembling arm with my other hand.

"There's money to be made," He continued to speak in a calm tone as he stared at the crowd.  
"You look like a mercenary yourself. Not with any company, though, are you? Freelancer, eh?  
I'm impressed. Of course, a place like this is bound to draw the best."

And as you'll see later, it also draws in "less than skilled" help.  
At the moment I had regretted coming here.

"Should be safe here. No promises further in, though... that's uncharted territory." He didn't need to tell me that. That's the whole reason we were here. Our job was to scout out the rest of the relic site. What I wanted to know was "where the hell was this client who was supposed to give me my orders?!" In fact, why was everyone else sitting on their ass when there was a job to do?

Suddenly across the room, I saw a short golden-haired girl dressed in red with an older man in a purple long-coat.  
Everyone else in the room didn't pay much mind to them but there was no doubt in my mind everyone could hear them.

"Can we just go home already? Please?!" She pleaded to the man standing in front of her.

"This is no place for children. And I'll wager she's no mercenary." Sadly it wasn't uncommon for kids her age to join this line of work.  
I was her age when I became a guardian.  
"Worst mistake of my life." I thought as I clenched my teeth.

"This is a relic site! A relic site! Do you hear me? Come on! You can't make me stay here!" The girl continued to complain,  
but it didn't concern me so I tried to tune it out, emphasis on 'tried'.

"Remind me why I pay you." The man sighed as he shook his head in disappointment.  
"Look it's safe here, I'll go find some work for you to do, just don't wander off you hear me? Stay put." The man walked away leaving the girl alone in a crowded room.

The girl began to pace back and forth nervously.

As I let out a sigh, there was a sudden booming sound that shook the entire room.  
Everyone had been sent into a frenzy and running towards the large closing steel doors.  
As I made my way out I felt a palm press against my back before getting shoved, the next thing I knew I was on the ground and everything went black.  
Once I was able to pick myself up of the ground, it was too late, the steel doors were shut tightly.

As faith would have it I wasn't stuck in here alone.  
"Just my luck..." I muttered under my breath the moment I saw the whiny girl pounding on the door.

"Open up, will ya? Ugh, come one! Let me out of here! Is this any way to treat somebody? I know you could hear me! Open this tin can up!" She cried out, though I doubt anyone on the other side heard her.

"I said we should go home, but did he listen? No." She sighed in frustration, not that I particularly cared about her crying.

I pressed the button on the little device that hung from my ear and a holographic visor appeared in front of my right eye.  
But I saw nothing but s blank blue-tinted screen.  
"Strange... bad reception? or Perhaps something in the RELIC site was jamming the signal." I pondered as I deactivated the device.

"Um, hello?!" I turned to see the girl glaring at me with her red eyes that seemed to emphasize her icy stare although because of her short stature it was hard to find her all that intimidating. Her hair was short but tied up into a ponytail on the side of her head by a storage disk-like accessory.  
She wore a red coat unbuttoned over a brown blazer with a yellow tie.

She had a pair of pinkish-red headphones that hung around her neck.

Appearance-wise, She seemed like a typical teenager.  
And I couldn't see any visible injuries.

She waved her hand in front of my face as she continued to scowl at me.  
"Hello?! I'm having a crisis over here. Maybe you wanna try not ignoring me?  
Most people, when they see a girl in trouble they try to find out what's wrong."

"You seem fine." I sighed in annoyance as I scowled back at her.

First impression of this girl; She's a whiny brat out of her element.  
It wasn't like she was the only one trapped and crying wouldn't help us get out any faster.

"Ooh... Chelsea always says tears are a girl's best weapon. So much for that theory." she muttered bitterly.

I ignored her, I thought it would be better to avoid an argument when there were more pressing concerns in front of us.  
Such as being trapped in these ruins.

"I guess we have more important things to figure out right now. Talk isn't gonna get us outta here.  
And I don't suppose we're any better off being trapped in here together." That was the first thing she's said so far that I've agreed with completely.

"Any idea what the fuss was about?" She asked.

"No clue," I replied realizing I might have had a little concussion, I couldn't recall much about how I got here or what planet we were on for that matter.  
It wasn't amnesia or anything, I just forgot is all.

"Yeah, me neither. It all happened so fast. Next thing I knew, this place was empty. What are we going to do?"

I glanced towards the only way out of the room.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't tell me you're thinking about going deeper into this place?! Are you crazy? This is a relic site. Who knows what could be down here?"

The alternative would be to sit there and wait for someone to come and rescue us.  
But I couldn't do that. Sitting around would be too painful, I'd only remember what I want to forget... or I'd have to talk to her.  
Between those 3 options, fighting monsters was the most appealing.

I brushed her aside and proceeded to move towards the exit.

"Not so fast!" She tugged on my coat's sleeve.  
"If you run off by yourself you could end up dead-or worse!"

I forcefully pulled back my arm and continued to walk.

"Fine! If you're going, I'm coming too!" She ran in front of me with a staff held close to her chest and a determined look in her eye.  
I glanced down at my sword and back to her.

"Fine..." I continued to walk as she walked by my side.

"Oh, I don't think I caught your name."

"Cyruss..." I sighed.

"Never woulda guessed. Well, nice to meet you. I'm Emilia. Emilia Percival.  
Like it or not we're in this together." She said with a confident smile but I didn't expect much from her.

 _And that is how I met the girl who would soon save all of Gurhal from a threat no one saw coming._


	2. 1st Universe: Spreading Wings 1

**-1st Universe: Spreading Wings-**

* * *

We wandered deeper into the Ruins when suddenly we were faced with our first encounter.  
The two of us peeked around the corner to find two reptilian monstrosities blocking the doorway.

"The place is crawling. Figures. And why do I get the feeling they aren't going to just let us through?" She said her confident smile from earlier had completely vanished.

"Yeah…Perhaps we should think of a game plan." I suggested.  
Though I didn't expect much from her.

"There's something I should probably tell you. See, I may be armed, but I haven't actually been in all that many fights. Uh, none, to be exact." She whispered.  
It was just like I thought. "So, good luck! I've got your back!"

"Great... another escort mission" I thought as I left our hiding spot. I dashed forward with my long blue blade.  
When I swung it I tried my best to imitate what I remembered from those I've fought beside.  
My sword, The Exam, had an icy effect that slows down enemy movements making them easier to land fatal blows and dodge attacks.  
It was perfect for a beginner like me.

I managed to catch one beast off guard and took it out with a single fatal strike.  
The other one quickly noticed me and tried to hit me with its long blade-like claw but I quickly blocked it with the flat of my sword then kicked the beast away before it could use its other claw, while it was staggered I thrusted my blade into its chest finishing it off instantly.

"What are you waiting for? Let's get going!" I called back to the girl poking her head around the corner as I dug through the supply crates for any useful items.

"Hey! Isn't that stealing?!" The girl said as she ran up behind me from the way she spoke that I could tell she was glaring at me.

"I'll leave them something nice..." I said as I quickly wrote an "I.O.U" and signed it as "Emilia Percival".  
I took as much as I was able to store away and offered a handful to Emilia who continued to give me a cold stare.

"Relax, See the size of these crates? It's likely provided for the workers, i.e, us.  
So it probably doesn't matter if we take what we need. And technically we are doing our job by exploring this place." I said although someone could have been trying to sell it to us for all I know.

"Fine... I mean, if we were going to use it anyways..." She said as she reluctantly took the items from my hands. Frankly, I was surprised my lie worked.

As we walked deeper into the ruins there was quite a lot of those reptiles, Evil Sharks is what I think they were called.  
But we were lucky and managed to avoid direct confrontation. Usually taking out the stragglers quickly and avoiding large groups entirely.

"I gotta admit, I'm relieved. With you around, maybe I'll actually get out of here." She said as I poked my head around the corner for any more enemies.  
"Hey, I probably should have asked this sooner but... what can you do with that staff?"

"I know basic technics, Foie, Barta, Resta... That's about it."

"And you're... a Mercenary? _(For what I assume is a discount firm)_ " I asked reluctantly, opening a can of worms I never wanted to open.

"I technically work as a mercenary, but this fighting stuff isn't for me." She sighed before going off on a rant.  
"Not that my boss cares. No, he dragged me into this death trap of a relic site because he says I'm lazy. Ooooh, he gets under my skin! Who's he to tell me when to work? You're with me on this, right?"

"He's your boss, It's a pretty basic chain of command, like it or not," I replied.

"Oh, sure, take his side!' Needless to say, she didn't seem pleased with my response.

"I'm not taking anyone's si-"

"No, it's okay, really. I'm used to it. Nobody takes anything I say seriously." She muttered bitterly as she crossed her arms.  
Talking to her was pointless.

"Whatever. With your help, I should be able to make it out of here I one piece. Then he'll get a real earful!" I did not envy the man who had to put up with her.  
If I had to guess, I'd say the boss couldn't afford to fire her, but that wouldn't answer the question of why she works for him, If she was in debt or something like that it would answer all of my questions but what would she be in debt for? I didn't want to know.

"The Seed are gone, he says. The relic site is completely safe, he says. Yeah right." My ears perked up the moment I heard what she said.

"The SEED's gone?" Then I remembered the confidentality agreement...  
If the SEED were somehow still around the guardians would try their best to keep it on a need to know basis, to avoid a masspanic.  
Although I was uncertain about their current situation regarding the SEED.

If I were to believe what that woman said, there would be even more HIVEs in hiding.  
And with that more SEED.

"Come to think of it, have any relic sites ever gone active when the Seed weren't attacking? Well, maybe some have, I suppose. It's kinda hard to say for sure. Relic sites react to elementary particles emitted by the Seed, but does that explain the disruptions observed in the magnetic field? Hardly. In any case, the last of the Seed was driven out three years ago, but that didn't stop this place from activating. So if the whole site is run by some sort of master program, it follows that there must be some sort of trigger. Or, uh… yeah, Something like that."

I wondered what else could have happened while I was gone.  
"Are you an expert or something?"

"Who, me? No… That's all common knowledge." She replied.

"Common knowledge? You don't say…" it was hard not to feel dumb after not understanding most of what she said.

"Ask any mercenary you want. They'll tell you the same thing... Just forget I said anything. No one ever believes me anyways. Don't you go starting on me now!" Disregarding her personal strife, what she said caught my intention. Specifically the parts regarding the Seed.

"I'm sorry! Please tell me more."

"More? I was just rambling. Don't tell me you were actually listening. Well, this isn't really the time or place. Let's hurry up and get out of here."  
The girl ran on ahead.

"Fair enough…" I sighed as I followed her deeper into the ruins.  
After a while, we entered a room with a narrow hallway.

"Looks like we're going the right way." Emilia perked up as she ran on ahead.  
When she said that I quickly noticed the security bars on the side of the room.

"Emilia! Wait!" I quickly pulled her arm back as I did a laser beamed passed where her head used to be, all of the security gates in the room activated.  
They began to move around but it seemed it was safe where we were standing.

"T-that was close... Thank you..." She sighed in relief.

"Please don't run off on your own... I wouldn't wanna have to carry your corpse back to your boss..."

"Y-yeah... sorry." She turned to the lasers moving slowly in front of us in between the sidebars.

"So... should we turn back?" but when I turned around I saw that the door was locked.

"That terminal-I bet we can use that to get through." She pointed at the panel across the room.

"But it's across the room, how are we going to-" I noticed Emilia smiling at me... it was unsettling...  
"You can not be serious... "

"Good luck!" I didn't seem to have a choice in the matter if I wanted to get out of this place.

There wasn't too many of them and they seemed to follow a predictable and avoidable pattern.  
I leap over the first two low beams as they came towards me, then there were two high beams as I ducked underneath them the low ones from before appeared behind me.

"Cyruss! Look out!" Emilia called out.

"What was th-AHH" When I turned around I felt a sudden shock all over my body as the beams passed through me...  
I might have been dead if my force training hadn't boosted my defences against elemental attacks.

I was just lucky those were the kind of lasers that shocked and not... dismembered.

"Why didn't you move?" She asked.

"She's just a kid, She's just a kid." I bitterly reminded myself as I continued to move on,  
I jumped over the lasers that electrocuted me only to be hit by the ones that I ducked under earlier.

Once I've made it across I took out a bottle from the medical stash we've looted.  
"So glad we've raided that supply box." I sighed in relief as I pressed the big red button on the terminal.

The moment I pressed the button the lasers went down and Emilia hesitantly ran through the hall.  
"That did it... So why am I still worried?"

When she made it across 2 large drone-like enemies appeared floating in front of the door.  
I tried to attack them with my sword but they began to fly beyond my sword's reach while aiming their weapons at me.

"Shiet..." I muttered as I rolled out of the way of their gunfire.  
"Hey, Em? A little help here!"

"R-Right!" She said as she began to throw fireballs at them, but they managed to avoid it them with ease.  
The only thing she succeeded in was drawing their attention.

As they aimed at her she let out a terrified shriek, but before they fired I quickly pushed her behind the terminal and used my saber's large blade to deflect the drone's shots.

"Alright, here's the plan. Stay here, I'll draw their attention and you hit'em while their backs are turned. Got it?"

"Yeah, Got it!"

I began to wave my sword around at them in an attempt to distract them, luckily they took the bait. Emilia briefly jumped out of cover to knock one of the enemies out of the air, and while it was down I managed to hit it with my sword to make sure it stayed down. The other one took notice but Emilia quickly hid behind cover again, and while it was distracted I jumped up as high as I could, I stretched my arms out and just barely managed to knock it down.

Once the security drones went offline both doors opened.

We moved on forward that was when we reached the final room.  
a large empty room with 4 large stone pillars. This was like a boss room ripped straight out of a video game.

"How much of this place do we have to search before we find a way out?" She questioned as we walked into the center of the room.

The inactive machines around us made us nervous, especially considering the hall we just came through to get in here.  
Emilia stayed close to me as we walked through the mechanical room.

"All these machines around here-they're the site's automated defences. I feel like they're watching me. What if they went live…? C'mon, let's get out of here."  
As if on cue a giant axe-wielding robot appeared from before us.

"You gotta be kidding! I shoulda kept my big mouth shut!" She shouted. I agreed for a very different reason.

"We can handle this," I replied as I rose up my sword.

"Whaddaya mean, handle this?"

My chest began to pound harder as the enemy approached us, my vision began to get blurry, and head began to ring.  
I stared down the enemy angrily, I didn't know what made me so mad...  
Perhaps it was because it was a machine,  
Maybe it was because it reminded me of a past foe.

Not that it mattered in the end.

There was this burning sensation throughout my body,  
A feeling that desired to fight, a feeling that needed to destroy.

"Don't tell me you're going to fight that thing?! Ungh…"

I was going to fight regardless of what she decided to do.  
All I cared about was fighting this enemy.

"Alright, I'm with you! If you say we can handle it, we can handle it!" She said somewhat confidently.

And so the battle was on I dashed on ahead but I was immediately knocked back by his axe.  
Emilia had helped me up with a healing technique with her staff.  
I got back up and continued to fight regardless of what might happen to me.  
I was completely unafraid to die…  
Perhaps a part of me was actually hoping for it.

But…

Every time I was knocked down Emilia healed me and I continued to fight on.  
Every time I got up I learned how to avoid his attacks and my attacks only got stronger while my blade was slowing him down.

Once the enemy was slow enough I jumped up and finished it off with a stab through its head, After that, it sort of fell on it's back.

I don't remember a lot of the fight but that's how I remembered it.

"I'm… alive…? I'm alive! We did it! The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" She cheered, I sighed and fell on my back to catch my breath.  
"I'm alive?" I thought to myself as I looked at my left hand. But what now? The feeling began to fade away.

"That was really something! I knew you could do it! I knew it" She said...

Suddenly the Robot got back up and swung its weapon at her.  
There was a brief moment where it felt as if time froze, Emilia stood there and the monster was in the middle of his strike.

I had no time to draw my weapon, no time to think, I just had one thing going through my mind.

[Protect Emilia]

I dashed forward pushing her out of the way, but at that moment there was an immense pain across my chest that only lasted for but a moment.  
Then there was nothing but darkness, nothing for me to hold onto but the crying words of a young girl.  
"Why did you? Why did you do this?" I heard her voice as I barely held onto life.

it's a miracle I was able to hold on at all, her voice gradually became quieter…

"It should be me lying there, not you!" I hear her crying.  
How many times have I thought something so very similar?  
"Get up!"  
Honestly, It might be stupid and selfish, but it was nice having someone cry for me in the end.  
It was something to hold onto but it wasn't quite enough.

It's better this way….

For what it was worth, It was actually kind of fun to fight alongside someone after so long.  
In my final moments, I felt a tear fall down the side of my face.

At least, this useless life could be useful to someone.  
Even if it was just to be used as a scape-doll.  
Besides it's not like anyone was waiting for me to return home, I thought.

I'm certain that this girl had someone who wants her to live, Someone looking out for her.  
By that logic, her life takes priority over mine.

And suddenly there was a flash of light, that turned to sudden darkness.


	3. 1st Universe: Spreading Wings 2

**-1st Universe: Spreading Wings 2-**

* * *

I've once had a dream, I guess you might say it came true.  
It was something I've wanted, I wanted nothing more than for it, to make it a reality.

Except when I had it, I've really had nothing left.  
Nothing at all.

* * *

When I came through I heard the faint sound of a robotic… french accent? I slowly opened my eyes and the first thing I see is a green-haired CAST dressed in a somewhat revealing dress… I tried my best not to stare too much.

"Ah, You are awakened, one moment, please. Monsieur boss, Monsieur Boss our guest has gotten up, perhaps you can get it up too" She called over to someone across the room.

"Where am I?" I asked as I put my hand on my chest.  
"Was that just a dream?"

"Welcome to Little Wing, I am Chelsea. Enchante." She replied.  
Chelsea… I vaguely remembered that name, but I sure as hell never heard of Little Wing.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"Do not worry. I assure you, we are a reputable business." She said.  
"Monsieur Boss! Monsieur Boss! Our guest is awake."

I turn to the familiar looking man and immediately knew that wasn't a dream…  
at least I think I knew, I'm pretty sure I've hit my head, I could have been knocked out since then for all I know.

"Hang on, I'm talking to somebody here. Hey, it's me. I need you to get your butt down here." The man said to someone on the phone.  
"I don't care if you don't wanna come! Spoiled brat!"

The moment I heard "Spoiled brat" I knew exactly who he was talking to.

"Oh, my. I suppose it is I who will explain. This is Clad 6, it is a resort colony, and you are in the offices of Little Wing. We are a civilian security firm here, yes."  
Clad 6, I knew the name but never actually been there before... or here.

"Monsieur Boss brought you here. You were asleep all this time, like a baby. So peaceful."

"Feelin any better? You look like someone spit in your soup." The man approached me, as charming as I remember.

"Just peachy…" I rolled my eyes.

"Maybe I should fill you in on what's goin' on. Hmm, where to start? My name is Kraz Muehler. This little mercenary outfit I got goin' here is called Little Wing. More of a private security firm, really, but Mercenary outfit has a better ring to it. We do private security for big shots with deep pockets, run patrols around factories. That sorta thing." I didn't have much to say. Though I did agree "Mercenary outfit" did sound better but to make it more accurate you gotta add the word "Discount" at the beginning or that title.

"We were down at that relic site to scout the place when all hell broke loose. So instead of a nice scouting mission. I ended up rescuing the idiots who got trapped inside, One of those idiots was you."

"Hey! That wasn't my fault!" I argued but he ignored me.

"Trouble was, you weren't carrying any ID. I couldn't exactly leave you how I found you, so here you are." He said.

"Thanks… I guess." I said but somehow felt that wasn't all there was to it.

"Don't mention it. Fact is, you might say I had an ulterior motive." I knew it. Suddenly I heard a ring as the doors behind me opened.

"Give it a rest, boss. Today is not the day for this." Emilia walked into the room.  
"Do you have any idea what I've been through."

"Don't know, don't care. Save your whining for someone who does." He replied.  
"Can't you see we have company? Show some manners."

"Oh, sorry. Nice to meet-wait a minute. You look familiar." She said with a puzzled look then came to the sudden realization.  
"What?! What are you doing here?!"

"That's what I would like to know," I replied with my arms crossed as she stared at me like I was a ghost.

"I thought- I mean- Shouldn't you be dead?"

"Luckily, that's not for you to decide. I swear the things that come out of that mouth of yours." Kraz replied.

"You might have told me. This is how I find out?" She glared at Kraz then turned to me. "Uh, not that I'm not glad you're okay. After I blacked out, I don't remember anything until waking up here. I must've dreamed the whole thing. Phew, talk about a load off!"

She said something about me being dead, Since I remembered it too I doubted that part was just a dream.

"So you two are already acquainted. Good. You seem to get on well enough. That should make this easier." Kraz cut in.

"Make what easier?" Emilia and I turned to Kraz.

"You're a freelance, right? Well, not anymore. You're with us now."

"Whoa, where'd that come from?" Emilia replied.  
I knew where this was going and I didn't like it.

"Quiet, I wasn't talking to you. We aren't a big company, but for someone with your experience, we'd sign you on with a full bonus package. I'll even throw in a partner. She's not much but she's better than nothing."

"Are you sure about that?" I thought as my eyes drifted over to Emilia.

"How unusually generous of you," Emilia replied oblivious to where he was going with this.

"I'm talking about you knucklehead." He sighed as he turned towards me.  
"What do you say? No entrance exam, free partner- that's more than a fair offer."

"Not interested," I said bluntly. I might have taken the deal if it didn't include the extra baggage.

"I understand. That's a lot to have sprung on you all at once. Nobody's forcing you. Of course, if you decline, I'll have to charge you for bringing you here and guarding you until you woke up."

"Fine… How much?" I sighed.

"I figure, oh, a million meseta ought to about cover it."

That's extortion!

"You're pure evil, you know." Emilia and I glared at him.

"So what'll it be? Heh, listen to me. As though you had any choice." This man… I don't know why I expected anything less. "I went ahead and took the liberty of preparing some quarters for you. Don't just stand there, Emilia! Escort your new partner to the living quarters. You two play nice, hear?"

"Wait, boss! Don't I get any say in who my partner is?"

"I doubt it… " I muttered under my breath.

"If you'd rather work solo, I suppose that could be arranged," he said with a sly grin.

"I'll take that deal!" I tried to cut in but was ignored once again.

"That's… not what I meant." She sulked.

"Save the complaints for when you're actually ready to do some work on your own. Understood?" He replied.

"Alright, you win. I'll be waiting outside the living quarters." Emilia said as she walked out of the room.

"That girl has more lip than brains. Orders aren't up for debate." Kraz said with his arms crossed.

"Monsieur Boss is too hard on the girl. You catch more bees with honey than vinegar" Chelsea replied.

"If she worked more like a bee, maybe she'd deserve some honey." Kraz turned to me. "What do you think? Am I too hard on her?"

"I'm sure she deserves it." or perhaps deserve wasn't the right word for it, but I did think respect needed to be earned.

"Damn straight. Finally someone with some sense around here. At that age give 'em an inch and they take a light year. Let me go ahead and set the record straight right here and now. Her and me aren't related in any way, shape, or form. I'm her boss, she's my employee-end of story." He said bluntly.

"I see…" I trailed off as I glanced towards the door leading out of the room.

"What a thing to say! You are that girl's guardian!" Chelsea argued.

"I only took the two of you in to settle a bar tab."

'You were the only one who keeps coming until the bar goes out coming until the bar goes out of business."Chelsea said. I didn't know if that was sweet or sad but looking at Kraz I'd guess the latter. "Truly, I am grateful for all you have done for us."

"This is getting us nowhere. Listen, we're not related, all right?"

Not going to lie, I do like how straightforward Kraz is. Regardless, I never looked at the two of them and thought, 'They're just like a real family! Oh, How I wished I had that!' or… something like that.

"But technically, I am her legal guardian. And that's the only reason I keep her lazy, back-talking carcass around."

"I suppose that answers the question of why she still works here," I muttered.

"It's not her fault. There are so many new things at first, no?" Chelsea replied.

"I don't want to get into the whole thing about the girl's past. Frankly, I don't care." He snapped as he turned to me.  
"As for you, your only job is to keep Emilia out of trouble. Keep her safe. If you can get her to where she actually pulls her own weight around here, even better. How you do it is up to you. Don't let me down."

So, in short, I was hired as a glorified babysitter.  
"Fine…" I sighed as Kraz returned to his desk across the room.

"Monsieur Boss has a sharp tongue, but Emilia is a good girl. Be nice to her, and I am happy. Emilia is happy. We are all happy." Chelsea said. "Now, Emilia is waiting for you outside the living quarters. Do not keep her waiting!"

There was something I wanted to ask Kraz about concerning that bar tab but I couldn't bring myself to walk over and ask him. So I just left and immediately noticed a familiar face across the room.

"You Jerk!" I shouted at the CAST I met at the ruins.

"You… We met at the Seabed Relic Site, didn't we? You remember?"

"You're damn right I remember! Why didn't you help me up?!"

"Sorry, a lot was happening, I didn't even notice you weren't behind me." He replied with a calm and composed tone, but what would you expect from a robot, I thought

"So you're with this crew too, eh? Kraz saw me helping out with the rescue efforts at the site and asked me over. When I heard there weren't any background checks on here, I was worried that…" He trailed off. "But so far, so good, eh?"

My situation could have been better… but could have been worse too.

"If I'm worried about anything, it's our fearless leader's attitude towards work. I'm sure he's got reasons, but still…" I didn't really understand what he was getting at but thought it would be better not to question it. "Not that it's any of my business. We're mercenaries and we do what we're told. Am I right?"

"Yeah, you're right." I agreed loosely.

"Tell you what. If we ever get put on an assignment together, I'll watch your back if you watch mine."

"Sure" I replied but thought even if we did get put on a mission together I'd have my hands full with Emilia but I wouldn't mind support. As I walked away I noticed Emilia waiting in front of a large green door. I walked over towards her as she let out a yawn.

"Well, it's about time!" She glared immediately upon noticing me.

"Can we get this over with now? I need some shut eye." I wanted this to be over and done with as quickly as she did.

She guided me into the large green doorway and guided me towards the room Kraz has prepped for me. Inside was the basic necessities. A bed and a private bathroom were really all I needed.

"That's all the important stuff… Now I seriously have to get to bed." She said with a yawn. "I'm asleep on my feet."

And she immediately passed out on the bed.

"What the-! Go sleep in your own room!" I shouted but she was already fast asleep.

"Fine…" I sighed as I sat at the foot of the bed when suddenly the door opened and what entered was a familiar tiny robot.

"Cyruss!" She ran up to me.

"Rose? What are you doing here?" I guess I should explain. This my Partner Machine, more like a robotic pet humanoid butler thing… I've got her when I became a Guardian… but there's something "special" about her that sets her apart from being a simple machine.

"You haven't returned home from the relic site so I went looking for you." She replied as she handed me a black bag half her own size.

I remembered that Kraz said I had no I.D on me. I dug into the bag and there it was, everything I didn't bring to the relic site. My communicator, my partner card, and some more personal things.

"You've been looking for me?" I didn't know what else to say, I was surprised, to say the least.

"It was surprisingly easy, I've heard that a ton of mercenaries got invited here from the relic site so this seemed like the most likely place you'd be." She replied.

I patted the little robot on the head as she let out a grin.  
Reflecting back over the time I've isolated myself in my room, I was probably not the best master.  
I couldn't remember the last time I've been able to look Rose in the eye.

"Thank you…. and I'm sorry." I managed to say as her grin turns into a wide-eyed smile. Suddenly I began to realize how tired I really was.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, Just need a…" I turned to Emilia lying fast asleep. "little rest… Could I-? No! I think I'll just get some coffee."

As I was about to leave I heard a faint voice say "Wait" I turned around to see a glowing figure, best described as a goddess of light.

"Rose, are you seeing this or am have I really finally lost it?" I said as I reached for my sword.

"I sense nothing, and you appear to be getting hostile, should I get the tranquillizer?" She asked politely as she reached into the bag.

"Wait! No!" The figure seemed surprised. "I am Mika, an entity of pure consciousness. I have chosen that girl as my vessel. The form you see before you is a product of technology lost long ago. "

"Y-Yeah get it ready…" I replied as I pointed my weapon at her with shaky hands.

"The people of your time call it the technology of the Ancients, which would make me an Ancient. In the distant past, my people lived in this system. We were the first." She tried to explain as Rose prepped the gun.

"Rose! It's telling me some really crazy stuff right now!" I said visibly panicking.

"I understand your doubts, But please, hear all I have to say before making up your mind. You are the only one I could trust." She tried to calm me down.

"Uh… H-Hold your fire, it- I wanna hear this. " I ordered, Rose reluctantly complied while keeping the weapon on me.

"I should advise you, again, to seek mental help." She replied.

"I told you for the Hundredth time, I can handle myself… Besides we don't have the cash or the insurance for that…" I argued, as the goddess nervously tried to cut in.

"I have studied Emilia's memories to learn about your time. Three years ago, a great calamity befell the Gurhal System."

"The Seed…" I grumbled bitterly as I tightened my grip on my saber.

"But that was not their first attack. They came in my time, as well. It was the height of our civilization. The seed invasion pushed us to the brink of ruin. The battle was long, but in the end, we triumphed, banishing the Seed and their leader, Dark Falz."

The seed was the source of all my misery... And not just mine…  
Everything seemed to always trace back to them.

"But victory came too late. The planets of our system were already tainted by the Seed. Not even our bodies were spared. The taint of the Seed left nothing untouched. It was only a matter of time before our system and all who lived here would perish."

This story, If I weren't so exhausted I would probably be more inclined to believe it.

"So the Ancients risked everything on a grand venture that would span the ages: Project Renaissance. First, we purified the Gurhal system of the Seed, restoring the planets to their former glory. Next, we created a new race of men and loosed them on the pristine worlds. Finally, the Ancients shed their tainted flesh and became beings of thought. Our work done, we passed into sleep. "

Being of thought? Personally, I would have preferred Death. Living without shape or form doesn't sound at all appealing…  
At least that's what I'm guessing she meant.

"We slept, and waited-waited for the day our children would rise as we had, that we might steal their bodies for our own."

"Is that so?" I glared at her as I readied my weapon, I noticed Rose also doing the same so I tried to stay relaxed.

"As time passed, all went according to plan. The civilization of the men we created grew and prospered. Their technology advanced until finally, they unlocked the secrets that would lead them to our place of slumber. The new race of men-humans-are our children. The Gurhal System has fallen into the trap laid so long ago by the Ancients."

The ruin sites? Was my first guess.

"I know you must find this hard to believe but it is the truth. And I ask for your help to stop this dreadful plan from happening. The one you call Emilia will not hear me. Her heart and mind are closed."

"No surprise there…" I muttered under my breath.  
I still didn't buy it but I had to ask. "But why do you care?"

"Though I am an Ancient, I have no desire to be reborn in this time. Our destruction was our fate. Our time has passed.  
You and I are not the strangers you might think."

"What do you mean?"

"Ask yourself: Why can we talk as we do? What bond do we share? When the automaton attacked you in the relic site, was it real? Are you even alive?"

"I've been wondering that ever since I've woke up… But it all happened, didn't it?"

"It did. The automaton destroyed your flesh. You knew true death. It was Emilia's wish that activated my program and allowed me to reconstruct your broken body." She said.

"Emilia's Wish?" Suddenly I felt a sharp pinch in my neck. "Rose? I said… Wait"

I woke up on the floor with Emilia and Rose looking down at me

"Cyruss?" Emilia waved her hand over my face for some reason.

"Mika?" I said groggily as I stared at Emilia.

"Who's Mika? I thought we already did the introduction thing. I'm Emilia, remember? Emilia Percival" She glared at me.  
"Great, a partner who doesn't know my name."

"Sorry, I guess I'm not sure what-" I replied as Rose helped me up.

"Nevermind, just forget about it," Emilia replied. "Oh, I still gotta show you your ship. Just use the transporter when you're ready it should take you straight to the bridge. I'll meet you there. When you're ready." She said.

Emilia left the room as I tried to clear my head

"Rose? I told you not to shoot," In hindsight, any normal person might have shot the moment I pulled out my saber.

"But you've been talking to yourself for 5 minutes with your weapon out. This seemed like the best course of action."

"I-I see your point…" I decided it wasn't really worth arguing over especially when I know I'd lose,  
but it was still hard for me to tell if it was real or some sort of hallucination. Anyway, I left the room and went to look for Emilia.

I stepped into the transporter and instantly beamed into the ship.  
Normally I'd be excited to have a ship but I had other things on my mind.

"This is the ship you'll use for work. She's company property, so take good care of her. Over there's the mission terminal with all the available missions. Chelsea can fill you in on the details later. Basically, you use this ship to take you to whatever location the mission calls for."

I hardly listened to her and continued to question whether or not I was able to trust my own sanity at this point.

"Are you okay? You seem a little out of it?" She seemed slightly concerned.

It felt like my grasp on reality was fading more and more by the minute.

"It's nothing, sorry I'm just a little tired." I forced a smile. I wanted to talk to her about Mika but I doubt she would believe me, even I found it hard to believe.  
From the moment I hit my head, the moment I met Emilia, everything seemed so unreal. Hell, I've even died. Now I'm seeing a glowing ancient lady? I just couldn't believe any of this.

"Right." She said as she glared in disbelief but decided not to press the issue.

"Oh, I almost forgot, Here's my partner card." She said as she handed me a little card.  
I guess you could call it a business card of sorts. We give it to others so they'd be able to call for help with missions.

"That's that. Oh, and let's not forget who's in charge here. I have been with the company longer after all."

I could argue that I had more experience than her, or maybe that I was older or the fact that Kraz told me to whip her into shape… but figured it wasn't really worth it. I didn't particularly care about who was in charge as long as she didn't abuse her power.

"Sure, whatever." I sighed.

"Ugh! You're not making this easy! Forget it. Just treat me the way you have been and we should get along fine."

You sure about that? I thought.  
We haven't exactly had been best friends up to this point… At least not from my perspective.

"Phew, Talk about a full day. I'm tired already. This is your first job with the company, right? Sorry if you had to start out like this, what with your hallucinates and all." for a moment she almost sounded sympathetic.

"Yeah…" I sighed.

"No need to get into that again, I guess the main thing is that we're both safe." Suddenly the room went silent.  
I can guess what popped into both of our heads when she said that.

"Um, about that. I'm not sure how to say this…" She said timidly.  
"If it wasn't for you, I'd probably still be trapped in that relic site. But more than that, you believed in me. In my dream that is. Real or not, it made me happy."

I was surprised she said that. I didn't expect she could get so sentimental.  
I couldn't help but let out a little grin.

"Hey, quit looking at me like that! You think spilling my guts like this is easy? All right, that's it! I think you've heard enough about me for one day. Next time, you're in the hot seat." She said as she let out a smile. "We're partners now. We have to get to know each other."

Partner… I thought about that word again and my stomach sank.  
"Yeah…" I forced a sickly grin as I turned around to leave the ship.


	4. 1-2

**1 - 2**

* * *

The moment I entered my room, I dropped my forced smile.

"Dammit!" I shouted as I punched the metal door.  
"Why did I have to get stuck babysitting this brat?" With my back against the wall, I slid down to the floor.  
I hated her down to my very core, or perhaps more accurately I hated the position she was forced to fill.

The way she smiled while she said that word hit a raw nerve.  
It's been years since that day. Why does it still hurt so much? I wondered as I tightly clenched my fists.

I took a deep breath and tried to remember their face but nothing came but a blurry image.  
I summoned my staff to my side and suddenly dozens of vivid memories flashed through my head and hit me like a ton of bricks,

Suddenly everything went dark.

I woke up on my bed with a sharp pain in my neck.  
"Good you're awake," Rose said as she sprung to my bedside.

"What happened?" I slurred as she placed the tiny black gun on my lap, I have seen that answer too many times.

"You were screaming again, and you didn't respond to my warning." She replied.

"I see..."

"Why did you pull out your staff?" She tilted her head.

"I... I wanted to see if I could… I guess… I shouldn't have expected it to be any different from last time…" I fell back in my bed.  
"Did anyone else hear me?"

"if anyone heard they didn't come to investigate." She said in her usual robotic tone.  
I placed my trembling hand on my chest.

"I see..." I couldn't understand anything anymore.  
I just wanted everything to disappear.

That was probably one of the many reasons I went to the Relic site, but then Emilia had to pull me out of the abyss I had been longing for.

The next day we had a mission to hunt down De Ragon, a dangerous dragon-like monster that lives on Parum.

These monsters are less common than others and people usually hire professional mercenaries to take them out…  
Too bad they went to Little Wing because now they'd have to settle for me and Emilia.

"Let's get this over with," Emilia said as we set foot on the mission site.  
That was when I realized these plains looked awfully familiar.

"My thoughts exactly…" I said as I tightly gripped my blade.  
At this point, everything tends to be a little fuzzy.  
A similar rage came through me much like what happened at the Seabed relic site.

I just wanted to finish this job and leave this place as fast as possible. The similarities between this mission and the one from back then were too close for comfort, even the end boss was the exact same.

That mission from back then…

I held my mother's staff, ready to face any dangers that awaited.  
I was a silent and shy child who had just became a real guardian.  
Wildlife infected by the seed were everywhere and the only solution was to exterminate them all.  
One might even consider it a mercy killing.

Back then I took pride in my determination and that powered of my techniques more than anything else.  
I didn't really think about elemental weaknesses or even consider retreating an option.

In short, I was an idiot.  
My partner, on the other hand, was on a whole other level.

Their skill with a blade was much more effective than anything I could muster.

I tore through the enemies as fast as possible, faster than I believed I could.  
My icy blade doing extra damage to the enemies I tried to burn in the past.

"Are you okay?" Emilia asked as I took a moment to catch my breath,  
but I didn't bother responding to her and marched onwards towards the final area where our target was last spotted.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" She said as she chased after me.  
I felt her grab me by the wrist and instinctively I pull my arm back swung my blade towards her but surprisingly she was able to evade my swing but fell on her backside in the process.

"Emilia?" My anger was replaced with guilt the moment I thought I hurt her.

"I'm-" But before I could apologize I heard a familiar roar as the dragon flew into sight, and I turned to face our enemy.

"De Ragan…" I muttered bitterly.  
"Emilia… Stay down."

 _I tried my best to fight this monster, my attacks no matter how hard I tried they didn't do nearly enough damage as my partner's,_

 _During the battle, My life was hanging by a thread._  
 _I was exhausted and couldn't cast any more techniques._

 _Suddenly the dragon set its target on me._

 _but my partner came to save me._

"I said stay down! This beast is mine! Got that?!" I shouted half aware of what I was doing.  
This time my rage wasn't in control. I had to prove to myself that I could move forward without her.  
To me, if I didn't do this on my own I'd only continue to suffer.

This was a battle of pride.  
I didn't care if I died… and that was my greatest weakness  
and the reason I was destined to lose.

I ran forward and attacked with a flurry of slashes, I managed to do a good amount of damage thanks to the element of my blade, although it didn't really slow him down all that much.

Suddenly I was knocked back by its tail, I was not as resilient to damage as a hunter but my determination to defeat this monster was stronger than it was back then. The Dragon launched several fireballs my way, I quickly rolled out of the way as I charged towards the beast once more. I thrust my blade into its belly as hard as I could, the blade pierced it's armour and sunk into its flesh.

I smiled as it let out a loud cry in pain but it managed to smack me away before I could retrieve my blade. I was flat on my back as the dragon pinned me to the ground with his foot.

It charged up its breath in a last attempt to finish me off.

"Guess I'm still too weak, eh? hah..."

Suddenly it was hit in the head with a fireball, "Over here!" I heard Emilia shout as she continued to hit him with as much literal firepower as possible,  
before running away.

"What is that stupid girl doing?" I thought to myself as the De Ragan chased after her, forgetting about me…  
This Dragon wasn't all that intelligent.

I forced myself off the ground.

"I can't let her die…"  
I checked my inventory for another weapon but my only other weapon was my mother's staff and this wasn't the time for me to even risk freaking out.

"Emilia!" I shouted as I ran after her unarmed.  
Emilia found herself cornered by the dragon.

Though this might not have been the smartest move,  
I grabbed the dragon by the tail and pulled my hardest.

De Ragan turned it's head towards me as it toyed with me by dangling me on its tail like a ragdoll.  
While it was distracted Emilia quickly dashed towards it and pulled my blade from the dragon's gut. It began to bleed intensely.  
Emilia quickly took a swipe at its tail with my blade.

The dragon screeched as it effortlessly tossed me and Emilia away with its tail.

We both slowly got back up as the dragon marched towards us.  
 _"De Ragan's weak point is its head,"_ I remembered my former partner's advice.

I picked my blade off the ground and glared at the monster as he approached.  
"Em, Freeze its feet, If you do that I should be able to land a killing blow."

She nodded confidently in response as she pulled out her staff.

"Go!" On my command, Emilia sent a wave of blue light that was dragged along the ground that left an icy trail in its wake.  
And as planned it froze De Ragan from underneath and thanks to the injury to his side he couldn't muster up the strength to escape.

I jumped up and in one quick motion, I slashed my blade across his face, killing it.  
"We did it?" Emilia's dumbfounded expression quickly changed to overjoyed.  
"We did it!" She cheered but looked down at her blood-soaked clothing in disgust.

I'll admit that it hurt my pride that I couldn't beat it on my own.  
So I didn't say anything.  
She saved my life, but I wasn't sure it was something I could thank her for.

With our first open mission a success we returned to the office.


	5. 2nd Universe: Destroyer in Black

**-2nd Universe: Destroyer in Black -**

* * *

I lied back in my chair lazily as our ship gently drifted towards our destination. It was actually a pretty relaxing ride.  
Emilia had fallen asleep in her chair with her feet elevated on the opposite control panel...

I tried my best not to pass out.  
Odds are I'd have another nightmare and I would much rather avoid being seen screaming and crying by a complete stranger.  
"If you ever showed weakness you would only be taken advantage of." That was my thought process.

I began to doze off but was saved by a loud chime from across the room followed by a scream and a crash.  
I slowly picked myself off the chair to go check on the kid.

"Are you alright?" I asked the girl lying on the floor as she cupped the back of he head.

"Y-yeah." I helped her up as her communicator continued to ring resoundingly.

"Agh…This isn't going to be good news." She groaned the moment she saw the I.D.

She moved towards the far end of the ship to take the call.

"Uh huh. Uh huh…" She nodded along to the call.  
"He told me he paid his tab this month."

I heard some muffled yelling come from the other end of the call.  
"Well, that may be true, but- Okay, I understand. I'll give him a message." She let out a frustrated sigh as she hung up.

"Who was that for?" As if I needed to ask.

"The boss. The call was forwarded from home. If he doesn't pick up, the call comes to me. Half the calls we get are from bars trying to get him to pay up."  
Hmm… It's scary to think that if I were like a year older I might have met Kraz off in some bar somewhere.

I nodded off as Emilia continued talking.  
"Some guardian, eh?" She sighed.

"Uh… yeah, that's real.. terrible."

"Well, better head down to the office and give him the message." She was clearly not looking forward to it but...  
"that's not my problem." I thought.

"You wouldn't um, mind coming with me, would you? My stomach does flips just thinking about it." She said timidly as she gazed down at the floor.

"Yeah, of course.." I forced a warm smile.

"Thank you." He expression quickly brightened up…  
I could almost forget the fact she was covered in dragons blood.

"You should really get cleaned up before we go."

"Eugh… Thanks for reminding me." She groaned in disgust.

After arriving back home she made a dash towards the living quarters.  
We had agreed that I would wait by the transporter and we'd head back to the office together.

Almost immediately after she left I heard a familiar voice.  
"Cyruss?" I turned around to see a short purple Cast looking at me with wide eyes.

"It's… you, May." She was a mercenary I've met a few times during my time as a Guardian.  
I turned my gaze away, not being able to bring myself to look her in the eyes. I was shocked to feel her sudden embrace.

"M-may?" I blushed as the people around us began to stare. I quickly pulled her into the transporter and onto the ship.

"What happened to you? After I heard what happened, I tried to find you but you just disappeared… I'm sorry about-"

"Please don't- Mention her," I said as I stared down at the floor.  
May, being connected to my past was hard enough but the fact she was a cast made it increasingly difficult.

"You don't seem happy to see me…" She said breaking the awkward silence.

"N-no! It's just… hard. Why are you here?"

"Recently there has been a rise in missing people. I thought… Nevermind, it's not important." She trailed off.

"Did you say missing people? Do the guardians know about this?!"

"I've tried asking for their assistance but they said there was not enough evidence to connect the disappearances."

"of course…" I scoffed. The fact people are disappearing at all should warrant further investigation, but I wasn't terribly surprised.  
What was a surprise was the fact that she, a Cast, would pursue something so irrationally?  
For all, she knew they could actually have nothing to do with one another.

"So did you come to ask for help from Little Wing?" I asked.

"No, I was just following a lead, but it turned out to be a dead end… From the sound of it, the man I was told about had run away to get out of a debt."

"So what are you going to do now?" I asked.

"I'll have done a little more digging around…" before she left she handed me a card.  
"But give me a call if you ever need my help."

"Sure… whatever." I muttered as I walked off the ship.  
I had no intention of actually calling her but kept her card regardless.

Once I got back Emilia still hadn't returned and May was nowhere to be seen.  
Shortly after Emilia returned with a fresh set of clothes.

"Thanks for waiting… Come on, let's go." She said with a hint of dread in her voice.  
She lagged behind as we headed down to the offices.

 _NEWS: Hi, You're watching Gurhal channel 5, with our headline news. I'm Hal…with today's top stories.  
_ So… The news had caught our attention as we entered the office. Conveniently it had started the moment we entered. Talk about timing.

Chelsea seemed especially interested in what it had to say, for a reason we couldn't figure out.

 _"After two years of construction, a ceremony was held last month to celebrate the completion of a new subspace generator on Parum."_

"what- generator?" I questioned only to be shushed by Chelsea. Apparently, quite a few things have happened in the past 3 years while I was sulking in my room.

 _"Natsume Shu, spokesperson for Inhelt Corporation and the genius behind subspace theory, was on hand to kick things off."_  
Even if I were up and about during that time I doubt I'd have paid much attention to these, I was always a little behind on current events.

 _"He was joined by military officials and an endless parade of industry giants."_  
Stuff like this was pretty boring to me, so I wouldn't bother with it too much.

 _"Hopes are high that this new facility will lead to breakthroughs in subspace research. If all goes well, manned subspace flight may just be around the corner."_

The idea of travelling outside of Gurhal scared me.  
We barely handled the SEED and we don't even know what else could be lurking in just around the corner.  
Those kinds of thoughts terrified me.

 _"This research could be the key to solving Gurhal's current natural resource problems."_

"Gurhal's running out of-!" I practically shouted but without looking away from the screen Chelsea covered my mouth with her hand.

 _"I'm Hal, and this has been a presentation of Gurhal Headline News, Channel 5. See you next time!"_ with that said the news had ended and… Chelsea didn't seem at all happy.

"Zut alors! The news is over already? How can this be?" she as I took a step back.

"What's the big deal?" Emilia asked the question we both were thinking.

"They said nothing about Skyclad!"

"Should they have?" I asked sheepishly.

"After all the money we spend on the subspace program-out name should be in lights!" She continued. I'm sure a ton of people is investing in this program other than Skyclad.

"It won't do much to help business around here-we're just a subsidiary," Emilia replied.

"Is Kraz around?" I asked.

"Monsieur Kraz was just saying he wanted to see the two of you. I see the news, and completely forget."  
It's impressive how fast Casts could change their emotions at the drop of a hat… Or maybe that was just Chelsea.

"Don't worry about it. So he's inside, huh?" Emilia replied.

"Since you're going to see him anyway, could you take him this?" Chelsea handed Emilia a slip of paper. Emilia's mood had quickly dropped lower than it has already been.

"Emilia?" I said as I took the slip from her hand. "It's a receipt… for Red Velvet Lingerie?"

Even now I still don't really understand why Kraz would want women's underwear… I thought he might be cross-dressing… The mental image of Kraz dressed in Red Velvet Lingerie has forever left me scarred… and I sorta had a little meltdown.

I felt my skin crawl as I gripped the paper.

"That… doesn't sound like a business expense… at least, I hope it doesn't count as one… I mean what kind of place would this be if- " I chuckled nervously as I turned blankly to Chelsea. "My god woman! Please tell me this doesn't count!"

"The head office says no, and they will not reimburse it. Tell him it'll be coming out of his own pocket!" The minute she said that I sighed in relief.

"Faith in Humanity (Little Wing) restored" I whispered softly.

"I don't like it any more than you but wasn't that a little overdramatic? It's not like you'd have to-"

"Shh… Just give me a moment…." I interrupted Emilia as I dropped to my knees.

"That dirty old- Come on!" Emilia grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me along as she marched angrily towards Kraz's desk.

"Emilia! Wait! give me a break! I did almost die today!" I complained as I struggled to get on my feet as she continued to pull me along.

"And who was it that wanted to fight the De Ragan along again?!" She argued as she continued to drag me.

"Ow! Ow! I'm sorry! I won't do it again! I promise! Just let go of me!"  
Then she came to a sudden stop forcing me to trip over my feet and hitting the desk.

"What the-?" Kraz noticed the two of us from across his desk,

"We need to talk-pee-wee! Are you drinking it or bathing in it?" Emilia said as she tried to fan away the stench of alcohol.

"Oh, There you are." He said as he slowly got up from his seat, as I struggled to get up off the floor.

"Don't "There you are" me!" you've got another call from a bar asking you to pay up!" She said. Not sure why she needed me to say that.

"And what is this?!" I flashed the paper in front of his face.

"One of my receipts. What are you doing with this?" He took the paper from my hand.

"You didn't really think they'd let you expense this, did you?" Have you drowned all of your common sense?!" She scolded.

"That's completely legit. You gotta lay the groundwork before you close the deal?"

"This is how you get clients?!" I felt my skin crawl again.

"Don't be stupid- Now if you don't mind, we have business to discuss."  
Honestly, I just wanted to move on and pretend like I never saw the receipt…

"Cheer up. It's the perfect job for the two of you."

Simply because it was Kraz talking to Me and Emilia, I wasn't exactly expecting him to choose a mission to save the president or stop an ancient evil from taking over Gurhal.

"This is urgent, top-of-the-action-item-list sort of job. There's somebody we need to track down."

"A missing person search?" Emilia's eyes lit up excitedly.

"A missing person? Is this related to what May was talking about I wonder? Hahaha, maybe working for Kraz might not be so bad." That's what I thought…

"Who is it? A witness in a murder trial? Some corporate bigwig?" Emilia began to throw out guesses.

"Not quite. It's someone I loaned money to a while back. And you're going to collect." It was the dead end she was talking about…

"Wait, this job's for you? Go find him yourself!" She shouted.

"Just can it, you!" He yelled back. "Because someone here botched up a job at a certain relic site, we can't get any real work!"  
I didn't really believe it was Emilia's fault the ruins activated and I would probably back her up… If I cared enough.

"Well, when you put it that way…" she gave up quicker than I thought she would.

"Your target is a one Wurley Kokov. Male beast, age fifty-one." As Kraz gave us the description, I felt the younger me getting giddy about this sounding like some sort of super secret spy mission.

"His ship's been sighted in the Crodog region of Moatoob."  
How was it May was unable to track this guy down when Kraz could do it, I wondered.

"No city, no casinos… It's the last place I'd expect him to be."

"If you know where he is, why don't you go find him yourself?" Emilia asked

"What was that?" Kraz said in a serious tone.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Emilia was being strangely submissive.  
I suppose she was still a kid.

"C'mon, let's get out of here before the fumes start getting to us!" She quickly grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me out of the room.

We left for Moatoob at once.

There weren't many words between me and Emilia on the way there, not that it mattered to me.  
While we were waiting the arrive I was studying some photon arts for the saber.

Although I couldn't understand how anyone could perform these types of moves.  
I wondered if Hunters thought that way about techniques.

Choosing to change from a Force to a Hunter had sent me back to the beginning.  
Rose found me a useful sword but at the moment I've been getting by on my sword's ability rather than my own skill.  
I wouldn't be surprised if adept swordsman could take me down with a hand tied behind their back while blindfolded.

"Moatoob… I haven't been there in a while." I said with a forced grin. I promised I wouldn't go crazy, again.  
So I was determined to force the memories away, and if there's nothing around to trigger any memories, it shouldn't be much of a problem, it's not like anything from my past was around to come back to bit me, right?!

Emilia and I stepped out of the ship and noticed several others parked, yet there was no one around.  
That itself was odd. I couldn't imagine why anyone would come here, it's not like there were a whole lot of attractions.  
There was no reason anyone would be parked here... as far as I knew.

"What was Kraz talking about? I was expecting the middle of nowhere, but this place is like a parking lot." There were a ton of trees around us despite the stony terrain, a harsh environment to live in to be sure, but the beasts have adapted to life here quite well.

Poor naive little girl… I thought arrogantly while not actually knowing anything myself.

"How are we ever going to find Wurley out here? Not that we should be doing Kraz's dirty work for him in the first place. As if expensing lingerie wasn't bad enough,"

"Come on! I just got the image of the man in a lingerie out of my head…" is what I wanted to shout but is one of those thoughts I know would be better kept to myself… as painful as it might be.

"Now he's using the company to run errands. Someone needs to set him straight."

"Why don't you say something to him? If he's going to listen to anyone it's probably you…" I suggested but completely doubted it would do any good, I could have also volunteered to talk to him but I wanted to stay out of that mess.

"Fat chance. Kraz never listens to anything I say." Yeah, I figured as much.  
"If that's how it is, that's how it is. As far as Kraz is concerned, I'm only taking up space."

Wait… Why are you sharing this with me? I-I'm not good at talking to people… I thought.

"I just want him to show me a little more respect. Is that so much to ask?" she began to tear up.  
I winced in pain at her sadness. I suppose this is what Chelsea was talking about.

"I know! Why don't we finish this mission?"

"You really think that will change his mind about me?" She wiped away the tears from her eyes.

"He says you don't work enough, so if we finish this assignment he wouldn't have much to complain about." I took a shot in the dark, now we wait to see if it helped.  
But I wasn't able to completely handle my own emotions let alone provide support for this kid.

"I don't even like doing these investigations, much less fighting… Sorry, got off on a little rant there. If we don't track down this Wurley guy, we'll never hear the end of it."

That much we were able to both agree on.  
She wasn't a bad kid but... in fact, she was a pretty good one.  
If she refrained from saying the P word and quit dragging me around by the wrist we might just be able to get along well enough. I thought.

Suddenly we both notice a couple of people approach us.  
A short dark-skinned guy. His name slipped my tongue but I knew him from somewhere…

"Shite…" I bit my tongue and tried hard not to think about it.

"You-What are you doing here?" he stared at me.  
D- Did he recognize me? I panicked slightly.  
"You don't look like the kind of people who go around visiting cultural heritage sites."

I sighed in relief,

"We're looking for someone," Emilia replied, I was so glad Emilia did the talking.  
"Did something happen here? Why are there so many ships?"

"We just got here ourselves. We haven't had much time to look around. So far, it looks like we're the only people here." The boy said.

I took another look around to make sure and he was right.  
Not a soul in sight. Just a lot of ships and plants.  
A girl of similar height ran up to the boy.

"No luck, Tonnio. The place is dead. You do any better? Oh, you found someone." I guess she didn't notice us.

"But not who we were expecting. They're here on their own manhunt." The boy scratched the back of his head.

"Who's that?" Emilia asked.

"I guess we skipped the introductions, huh? We're mercenaries. Name's Tonnio Rhima."

"And I'm Liina Rhima. My husband and I work together." At first sight, they would seem like kids and this might seem odd.

"We work for a company named Little Wing, I'm Emilia, and this is my partner." She said the P word again…  
I let it slide this time since she avoided giving them my name.

"You're looking for someone, too?" Emilia asked.

"We were hired to patrol the heritage site." He said.

"Heritage site?" Good, I wasn't the only one in the dark about what that was.

"Wait wait wait. You mean you came here without even knowing what this place was?" The boy sighed in disappointment.

"Lighten up, I'm new at this!" She retorted.  
"If this is some kind of heritage site, where are all the tourists? There are certainly enough ships to go around…"

"You've got good instincts, at least," he replied.  
I would have figured that to be common sense.

"Something definitely feels wrong here. The wildlife is acting strange, too. Out for blood." Liina said.

"What?" I raised a brow the ships confirm that people are here.  
Do I need to explain what would happen if you threw bloodthirsty animals into the mix?

"There must be something going on inside the site. I'm sure of it." Liina said with certainty.

"We aren't going to figure out what it is standing around. The answers are in there. We all seem to be headed the same way. Why not go together?" Tonnio suggested.

"Y-yeah, great idea…" I forced a smile.  
Despite being completely against the idea I agreed since it was in our best interest to cooperate.

"All right, let's do this." He smiled as I ground my teeth beneath my smile.

"We should start by heading to the Kasch village. Maybe we'll find a clue to what's going on." Liina suggested.

"You know how to get there?" Emilia asked.

"The Kasch are nomads, but they leave markings so their friends can find where they've gone. The markings are written in the Kasch language, but I've studied it. Follow the markings and we'll be there in no time."

"I wonder what these markings look like…" Emilia mumbled under her teeth…

"You guys go on ahead… I gotta make a call" I said as I walked back to the ship, I had a feeling this had something to do with the missing people it only made sense to call her.

I held the communicator in my hand for a good minute but I couldn't find it in me to call her in the end.  
I am a weak man…


	6. 2nd Universe: Destroyer in Black 2

**-Second Universe: Destroyer in Black 2-**

* * *

I wanted to be a hero.  
I wanted to protect everyone.

Guess I just wasn't hero material, because when push came to shove I got crushed underneath all the weight of it all.  
A kid shouldn't have to be the one to carry these burdens.  
Looking back, it's sort of sickening that the Guardians actually train hopeful kids for only but a few months of training in the academy before sending them off on their trial assignment.  
I've had one of the toughest instructors, I passed their tests, and I still wasn't ready to become a hero.  
Gurhal was saved, but my world as I knew it was returned to a familiar grey.

* * *

"Hey! Hurry up!" Emilia's voice snapped me back to reality.  
I lagged behind them while continuing to think back on my history, not by choice, the little runts in front of me made it hard to forget.

"There, look! Those are Kasch markings!" Liina ran toward the scratch markings along a rocky wall at the cave's entrance.

"So this is what they look like. Pretty cool." Emilia said as she looked over Liina's shoulder. I didn't pay to much attention to it, with the 3 of them crowding over it I avoided the first one altogether

"Seems like they went in there." She said as she turned towards the cave.

They entered the cave and I lagged behind them. Within the cave was an area with stone walls but no ceiling instead was covered by large tree branches and a ton of leaves. The cave itself was a weird mesh of stone and plant-life.

In front of us were two large insects buzzing in front of the door almost like they were guarding the ways.  
Liina and Tonnio ran ahead before Emilia or I could lift a finger and in a flash, the enemies were taken care of.  
They turned to us as if expecting an applause. Emilia seemed impressed but I didn't react much.

We continued into the tunnel until we reached the end, and on the other side was a wide open area.  
We could see the clouds that covered the sky and the mountains in the distance but ahead of us was a lot of steep cliffs that seemed to go straight down into a deep dark abyss

The roads ahead of us diverged into two paths, a cave and a bridge.  
Though the bridge was blocked by a brightly lit wall of fire and the cave was clear almost like it had been directing us to go there.  
There was not much else in front of us besides a single large purple flower sitting suspiciously in the center of the area.

"The fire's blocking one of the paths. What now?" Emilia asked.

"The Kasch did this so no one can find them," Liina replied.  
"There must be something pointing the way. Find it!"

As everyone scattered around to find the markings I checked out the suspicious purple flowers sitting alone in front of us.  
And underneath those petals were familiar looking marks.

"Why are they trying to hide these markings if the purpose was to help their people find out where their camp is? I mean it's not like any normal person could read the markings anyways. And what happens if they move someplace else and this marking becomes invalid?!" The others came to check what I was ranting about.

"You found it!" Liina rushed up beside me to read the markings on the ground.  
"We do not fear the flame. Fear will consume those who embrace it"

"I swear If this is a trick someone's getting punched…" I muttered as I approached the flames without listening to the rest of what they had to say.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" Emilia ran up beside me.

"Weren't you listening… It was pretty straightforward, I-" as I placed my left hands into the flames, it was like the marking said,  
but I also realized that there was something I might never have the chance to do, so I let out a blood-curdling scream.

Emilia pulled my arm out of the flames.  
When she realized I was faking she gave me the coldest glare she had given me so far but that didn't stop me from enjoying her the look she had on her face as I screamed bloody murder.

"You are the worst!" She scowled as she pushed me back.

"Uh, can we get a move on," Tonnio said scratching the back of his head.  
Suddenly a familiar smile flashed through my mind in a blurry monochrome image.

"Y-yeah… Sorry… Let's get going…" Any fragment of happiness I was able to gather up quickly faded away from my sight as that this image took its place.  
This made it apparent happiness was out of my reach.

It felt like the world was only bringing me happiness all just to take it away in one flail swoop.  
And what remains of my past had only left me with bitter feelings of resentment towards what once made me so happy…  
I even became to resent the one I once idolized.

On the path we were met with many monsters that only got tougher the deeper we entered the forest but with Tonnio and Liina by our side they weren't too difficult, suddenly we came to a dead end, a boulder blocking the way.

"Should we turn back?" Emilia asked.

"No time…" I said as pressed a button on the earpiece I wore revealing a digital visor over my right eye, "Rose… Any ideas?"

"Just give me a minute…" She said as she scanned the rock, eventually revealing a crack invisible to the naked eye. I placed my hand along the crack and turned to the group.

"One good hit with Rafoie should be enough," Rose replied knowing very well I had no means of casting it.

"I see… Emilia, can you hit this spot with a Rafoie? That should be enough to clear the way." She nodded in response as she stepped in front of the other two.

"I-I'll try!" She rose her staff above her head as it began to emit a bright red light. We took a step back to ensure we wouldn't get caught in the blast. But somehow the Technic began to rapidly lose all stability and discharged towards the ceiling causing the cave to shake for a brief moment but eventually settled.

"Emilia, you have to focus! If you don't manage your techniques they'll go crazy and then someone will get seriously hurt." I scolded.

"If you think it's so easy why don't you do it!" She turned to me with her brow furrowed as she pushed the staff in my direction.  
I let out a little scream as jumped back instinctively like I was dodging an enemy attack. They all stare at me with a puzzled expression on their faces.

"Excuse me…" I coughed nervously. "Don't know where that came from…"

I turned back to Emilia who continued to give me that stubbornly cold stare.

"Look, you want Kraz to show you some respect, right? You need to give him something to respect. You can start by improving your skill in combat... You can do that by blowing up this rock!"

She sighed in frustration but decided to give it another go. She turned back to the rock and let out a little growl as she stared intensely at where I told her to aim. I knew it was unfair to ask a beginner to perform an advanced technique but I didn't really see any other solution, it wasn't like my blade could cut rock… but I purposely disregarded asking Tonnio and Liina's input on the issue and tuned out whatever they had to say.

"Emilia, this may seem unorthodox but just listen… close off your mind and channel all your emotions into your staff and release it into your attack! You techniques are directly tied to your mind, your heart is just an extension of your mind and your emotions are just another source of power.." I tried to recite my mother's teachings in my own words.

From Emilia's little rant earlier I deduced that anger would be one of the many things she has been bottling up.  
So I brought up Kraz in an attempt to draw up those emotions to power up this particular technique.

"Fire is like anger. If you can't control it, if you let it spiral out of control it will destroy everything around you, the fire will eventually burn out but you will be left with nothing but sadness and regret." Just saying these words made me feel sick to the core. "But… if you just withhold the fire inside you, then you're the one who will burn…"

The more power one draws from the heart the harder it is to control and the less stable it becomes and their actions usually become irrational and reckless as a result. Plus it's not like people can just summon up strong emotions on the spot, bringing it closer to a sudden burst of energy rather than a convenient power source.

I think my mother knew that yet chose to teach me the importance of heart over the mind...  
As much as I tried I could never remember much of what happened before I was adopted.

"Make that power your own, and express yourself through your arts… and release your art on the target."

There was a bright glow around Emilia as she charged up the technique, it looked almost like it was another instability.  
Tonnio seemed about ready to stop her from firing off but I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Let's just believe in her…"As we watched in anticipation the light had seemed to have stabilized on its own and gathered to the tip of her staff.

Then with a loud "Hya!" and a flick of her staff, the boulder had reached a sudden explosion.  
And a large burst of hot air had rushed throughout the cave.

"I-I did that?" She seemed as surprised as Tonnio and Liina.

"I knew you could do it." I calmly patted her on the back as I walked on ahead but made a sudden stop.  
Looking back on this I was a terrible person, I manipulated her anger into charging up a technique that had a pretty high chance of killing us all if it went wrong.

She once said no one believed in her, and made a big deal about me trusting what she said again on the ship after I joined.  
In order to clear out the doubt in her heart and to raise her chances of success, I pretended to believe in her.

I told you I hated showing weakness, right? Well, thanks to Emilia showing hers' I was able to play her like a fiddle, not to cause her harm but to cover my own weakness because I couldn't swallow my pride and accept help from Tonnio and Liina.

We came to another opening and followed a narrow trail. Luckily no one had even come close to falling into the abyss below despite the number of enemies that flew at us…. Along with the fact that Emilia was going crazy with the explosives. It looked as if she was having a "blast".

It was a little difficult for me to be effective when the enemies were flying over bottomless pits. It was a good thing Tonnio and Liina had guns on them, otherwise, we would have to rely solely on Emilia and her… Explosions.

By the time we made it to the next intersection Emilia had tired her self out from the number of explosions she had just thrown around. 1 road had a big menacing wall of black smoke while the other was clear.

"Can-we-take a break?" Emilia panted.

"Sure, we have to find those artchy markings anyways."

"Kasch Markings." Liina corrected me with an annoyed expression before going off to search with Tonnio,  
I took a seat beside Emilia with our backs against a stone pillar.

"How much further do we have to walk before we reach this place?" she complained, although the question was a pretty valid one seeing as we had no idea where they were. We could have been tricked into going the wrong way for all we knew.

I let out a sigh.  
"No clue, all we can do is follow the breadcrumbs and hope that they lead us to where we need to go."

"Cyruss…? How do you know so much about technics?" She asked.

"I… used to be a force, but… let's just say something happened and now I carry this…'cool' sword."  
I said as I ran my finger along the blade to emphasize the stupid joke.  
She rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Well… Thank you. I feel so much better now that I got it out of my system." I suppose that explains why she went crazy but I hoped she wouldn't overdo it.  
She's a beginner but even she should know that casting a higher level technique takes more out of the caster than a basic technique, that's just common sense.

"No need to thank me, really." I began to feel a little guilty about what my intentions were.

Suddenly I felt something brush up against my hand, I look down to see a purple flower blowing with the wind blowing it against my hand.

"I might have found their call sign…" I looked down at the flower, and beneath it was more Kasch Markings like I excepted and suddenly hiding the markings made more sense. They'd just have to find the purple flowers.

We called the others over to read the markings.

"More Kasch marking? Let's see what they say." Liina said as she took a moment to analyze the markings.  
"We fear the dark flame. Shun the dark flame… Death… the fearless."

"But wouldn't normal people go the clear way anyways? They're kind of asking people to go that way." I pointed out.  
Though I forgot about the fact that they'd have to walk through fire to come here.

"That's what it says." She replied, not that I doubted the words, I doubted the logic the Kasch had about these cryptic clues.

"What's wrong with a simple left or right?" I thought as I crossed my arms.

We followed the message and walked across the bridge avoiding the dark flames,  
once we've gotten far enough without anything significant happening Tonnio let out a sigh of relief.

"Nothing happened, guess we're headed the right way!"

"Does something happen if we go the wrong way?" I raised a brow.

"Well, They'd likely put up a trap filled with monsters or something." He said almost casually.

"Oh god! What if a tourist came for a walk or something?! I mean isn't that a little extreme?" I asked with clear concern in my voice.

"The Kasch are very protective of their home," Liina replied.

"You don't say?!" I replied sarcastically but I decided to drop out of the conversation and just walk on ahead before I start antagonizing the entire Kasch tribe before we even met them.

Once we continued to move down we finally reached the final intersection, a cave that splits off into many different directions and several different coloured flowers in front of each path.

I checked the purple flower but found no markings but pointed down the tunnel in front of it.

"I vote we go this way, purple has been a very lucky colour for us so far."

"I don't know…" Liina bit her fingernail nervously. I would have suggested we split the party if it wasn't for the fact that the Kasch has set several deadly traps so far and didn't doubt that they would have laid some down the wrong trails.

"Well, you could go looking searching for those markings. We can't really allow our target to escape, can we?" I said before running off on my own.  
I was confident in the purple flowers, they had been leading us along the way so far.

"Wait! Get back here!" I heard Emilia call out but I didn't have to go far to find the next set of markings along the wall.

"Hey! Guys! I found something!" The echoes carried my words down the cave to them.  
As they gathered around the Kasch markings I began to just take a minute to enjoy me being right.

"Hm, It seems we're closer than we thought," Emilia said before Liina could translate for us.

"What?"Liina and Tonnio both look stunned while I was a little caught up in being right.

"It's different from the ones we've seen so far. Look how detailed it is… Maybe it's the final marking…. You know! I think it is. Whew! We're almost there!" She cheered.

"See! Told yo- Wait a minute… did you just read Kasch?" I finally realized.

"Yeah, I was watching over Liina's shoulder while she was reading the others." She explained it like it was nothing.

"So was I, but I can't read 'em yet. That's a little fast, don't you think?" Tonnio replied.

"Stop pulling my leg! Anyone can read those… can't they?" Emilia sounded as genuinely confused as the rest of us. She then turned towards me.  
"You can read them too, right?"

"Uh, yeah… of course, I can…" I began to laugh nervously.

"Really? You can? So… uh… which way should we go next?" She stared at me with hopeful eyes, putting me on the spot.

"Well.. uh, You know we just have to head over there than… You know passed that… and continue until we get to… that thing… and then we just-" I tried to salvage what little pride I had left.

Her hope-filled eyes gradually went colder the longer I spoke.  
"Shut up! Shut up! Stop Talking!" I told myself but I continued to ramble on nervously.

"You can't read it at all, can you?" She said in disappointment.

"No clue…"

"That's not funny!" She yelled as she hit my side softly before marching on ahead.

"C'mon, it's this way. Let's get moving"

I had a feeling she wouldn't let me live this down...  
It would forever be up there with me trying to take De Ragan on my own.

As we exited the cave we heard a voice that I wouldn't soon forget.  
"Stay where you are!" it shouted from high grounds

"Look out!" Tonnio had quickly pushed Emilia down narrowly avoiding the beam of light short directly at her and hit the tree.

From the debris that flew off from the attack we could tell from this that it was an earth-based attack, I don't think it was aimed to kill and more to knock her out… although we have learned that the Kasch tribe was dead set on protecting their home, so I could be wrong.

In the distance, we saw a boy with short and messy dark hair dressed in yellow tribal clothes holding a large bow standing on a high up ledge.  
Judging from the glow around his bow it was likely his bow had an Earth element embedded inside it much like my blade's ice effect...

"Tonnio!" Liina pointed at the boy.

Tonnio summoned a short strangely shaped weapon bladed weapon as he leaped at him, the boy looked surprised but didn't run, instead he summoned a large pair of red glyphs, and what emerged from it was demonic beast with a fiery aura surrounding him, and with its giant right fist he let out a large burst of fire at Tonnio.

Before the flames managed to reach him Liina had pushed him out of the way while he was in mid-air.  
Which was amazing, she moved from the spot the second she spotted the glyphs and managed to save him before the beast did any damage.

The boy jumped down from his spot and glared at the two of them.

"Rose, What was that Technique just now?" I spoke into my visor.

"That was called a Mirage Blast, It's the ability to create visions using photons." She explained.

"Visions? I assume you mean that demon we just saw right now."

"That is correct. There's a large variety of visions with different effects and attacks. It should take a while before he'll be able to use it again. I suggest you take him out before then."

"Come no closer!" He said as he drew a spear.

"What's his problem?" Tonnio muttered.

"Not another step! I won't let you hurt the village!"

"I think he's got us confused with someone else!" Said Emilia.

"You're one of the Kasch, aren't you?" Liina asked. "Did something happen to your village?"

"What do you care? I won't let you do this. I'll stop you! My village, My people- I'll defend them!" He barked as she charged towards us with his weapon. The burning gaze in his eyes were all too familiar, a strong mix of anger and determination, which is how I knew trying to talk him down was useless... There was only one way to calm him down.

I dashed on ahead. He was fast but all I needed to do was land just a hit on him to slow him down even just a little bit.  
I started by letting him have the first hit which I was barely managed to deflect before I swung my blade but he managed to send me flying back with a kick before it could land.

"Hey, Tony… You're up." I groaned in pain as I lied on my back as Rose played a little trumpet tune into my ear.  
"Rose… that's not helping."

"Be careful he's fast!" Emilia said.

I logged out of my visor as I sat up, the boy continued to dash towards us at incredible speeds.

"Anyone who gets in our way is askin' for it!" Tonnio said as he summoned a pair of claws before attempting to intercept the boy…  
Which totally didn't make us look like the bad guys.

The boy thrusts his spear at Tonnio but he managed to dodge the tip roll past the boy, he threw a punch from behind but the boy had quickly blocked his attack with the shaft of the spear. Liina attacked him from behind with a pair of fans, Tonnio, on the other hand, tried to hit him with his free hand but the boy quickly grabbed him by the wrist and threw him at Liina causing the two of them to tumble backwards.

With 3 of us on the ground, he turned to Emilia who stood there terrified at the three of us on the ground.  
The boy dashed towards her at breakneck speed.

"Emilia!" I shouted.

She let out a scream as she switched her staff with a thin-bladed saber. She was panicking but she had managed to dodge the tip of his spear and struck him from the side before he could come to a complete stop. The boy brushed off the hit and swung his spear at her but she instinctively ducked out of the while letting out a little squeal before swing at him once again only for it to be bounced back by his spear.

 _"There's something I should probably tell you. See, I may be armed,_

 _but I haven't actually been in all that many fights. Uh, none, to be exact."_

How could a force react as fast as she is? Let alone a newbie.  
Emilia said it herself that she hadn't been in any fights, so maybe she's not a force but that doesn't…

 _"Yeah, I was watching over Liina's shoulder while she was reading the others."_

She managed to read the Kasch marking after seeing it a few times.

It was similar to me learning to wield my blade…  
By imitating what I've seen from others, I was able to copy their moves but it took me quite a bit of practice before I was able to even manage to vaguely get a handle on the basics.

That warm smile flashed through my mind once more, this time the image was filled with bright colours it was almost like a hazy dream.

I forced myself back up as Emilia ran behind the three of us.

"Emilia? Do you mind healing us?." I told her. The three of us weren't seriously hurt but I figured we'd need all the willpower we could muster.

Emilia managed to bring us back to full strength the boy turned to use with a dirty look as he readied his weapon.  
We probably could have done without the recovery but I wanted us at 100%.

"Tonnio! Liina! Strike! Now!" I said asking them to intercept our opponent. Knowing that they'd probably fail… this boy was driven by his heart. Even if he was using a spear it seemed to have made him immensely powerful, but his emotions have kept him from listening to reason.

"Emilia, get that saber of your's ready," I told her.

"What! Why? I-" she looked at me like I was crazy.

We watched Tonnio and Liina barely managing to fend him off.

"You're not going to be able to defend yourself with just that staff… and at the speed he's going I doubt he'd let a basic technique hit him so easily…  
and you take too long to charge Rafoie, on top of that the bright light would only draw his attention."

"What if I just heal you guys?" She tried to get out of facing this kid, convinced she wouldn't be able to handle someone who could take the 3 of us down and she was probably right.

"Use your head, The fastest way to win a battle is to take out the medic first!" I argued as the boy managed to knock the two beastlings back towards us.

Before she could continue to argue I dashed off ahead.

I recalled the way he had been battling us so far. His greatest asset had been his speed, and reaction time, the way he was able to react to counter attacks had made it difficult to land a hit on him, and If this kid built up enough momentum I don't doubt that we'd be down and out for good.

Although he's fighting angry, it makes him pretty predictable if you can manage to track down his attack patterns.

Which was my goal, I didn't have to win this battle I just had to give Emilia enough data to work with so she can defend herself against him…  
and my thoughts being if she can learn anything from our fight she would be a whole lot more effective in future combat situations.

Relying solely on my techniques was one of my many mistakes as a guardian.

The kid and I dashed towards each other, this kid was fighting with everything he could muster from that heart of his.

At first, I played defensive, allowing him to take a few swings at me while I narrowly block and dodge his strikes until he managed to land a jab with his spear into my left shoulder but I took advantage of this by landing a scratch to his arm before I was knocked down.

The boy had glared down at me as he raised his over his head.  
I braced for impact but before he could strike me down he jumped away to avoid Liina's gunfire.

He turned towards Liina but then sensed someone charging directly at him.  
Tonnio rushed him from the side but this time he couldn't react in time.  
The kid took the hit but knocked Tonnio away with a kick. He put a hand on the side of his gut that Tonnio managed to hit.  
As the kid dashed towards Tonnio, the little beast let out a wicked grin.

"Now!" He shouted before leaping away as a sudden explosion knocked the tribal boy directly into the cave wall.  
he was knocked out cold after that.

I stood there shocked by what just happened. With my right hand over the wound on my shoulder, I turned towards my party.

"Emi-" I was suddenly met with a sharp pain across my cheek. Emilia had slapped me as hard as she could.

"What were you thinking?! You promised you wouldn't do that again!" I was getting scolded by this kid. I stared at her scowling face and placed a hand on my throbbing cheek. I began to laugh softly but this time, I didn't really feel ashamed. Despite knowing how stupid my actions were.

"What are you laughing about? What would I have told Kraz if-" I only began to laugh louder when she said that but she only got angrier.  
"Stop laughing! It's not funny!"

Truth be told, I couldn't tell you what I found so funny. I'm never could put my finger on this particular moment... It was like for a brief moment the rain clouds had faded away...

Once I calmed down I turned towards the unconscious boy lying on the ground.

"You really did a number on him."

"Why does it always have to be the hard way?" Tonnio sighed as he looked down at the boy.

"So, he's one of the Kasch? I expected something a little more menacing." crouched down to check the boy's pulse, and luckily he was breathing.

"But he looks just like we do," Emilia said.

"The Kasch aren't a different race, but their culture isn't like ours. Their tribe live by the old ways." Liina explained. All I really knew about the Kasch was that they were a pretty Nomadic group.

"The Kasch Tribe…" Emilia trailed off as she stared at the boy.

"Take that Mirage blast, for instance. It's common in Gurhal now, but originally it was only known to the Kasch." Liina continued.

This was the first time I've even heard of the mirage blast let alone see one, and apparently, it's pretty common. There have been quite a few things I've missed over the past three years. I decided to ask Rose more about it once we got back.

The thing that interested me was the fact this kid didn't need a staff, or a wand in order to use it and judging from his arsenal, namely his spear and the bow, I guessed he was a hunter.

"With all the study of them recently, contact between our peoples has grown. Many can even speak our language."

I could continue to rant on about the fact that there were still traps around that intended to kill outsiders within the forests but decided to keep that to myself.

"Maybe he can speak it but he sure wasn't making a whole lot of sense. What should we do with him." Emilia replied.

I remembered what he was saying about his village, or more like I couldn't forget. During our entire battle, he was dead set on protecting it.

We knew something was wrong and I couldn't let innocents get hurt, as much as I would love to walk away from it. I wonder if this was related to what May was talking about.

"I'm more worried about the village," I replied.

"You too?" Emilia turned to me. "I gotta admit, I'm curious."

"If that boy's behaviour is any guide, something is definitively wrong in the village."

"We have to split up, then. Me and Liina will take the boy back and patch him up. You two go see what's happening with the village." Tonnio suggested.

"What?" Emilia and I looked equally shocked.

"You want us to go charging on ahead? Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Emilia replied.

"Does your ship have a medical pod? Something to take care of him?" Liina turned towards us.

"No… ugh, there goes half of our firepower. Why does that not encourage me?" Emilia muttered to herself.

"Don't worry, we'll catch up as soon as we can!" Tonnio reassured her. "Good luck."

Somehow, splitting up made me feel a little better, with that said Tonnio and Liina carried the Kasch boy back to their ship leaving me and Emilia all alone.

"This simple search mission keeps getting more complicated…" She sighed.

This assignment was beginning to feel more like one I went on back in the day.  
"Every time I try to get out of combat detail, they always pull me back in."

"Just you and me now, Cyruss. If things get rough, just tell me what to do. You give orders and I take 'em. Deal?" I was surprised she said that, for one, she had said she had made her position as my superior quite clear back at Little Wing, and I had done nothing to be given the title of leader, and she's been proven a better strategist than I…

In fact, I still don't understand what she was thinking.

"Alright, If that's what you want," I agreed reluctantly.

"Good…Just don't go doing anything stupid, again…" she said with crossed arms.

I should probably tell you now, I wasn't really done being stupid.

We went on ahead to the Kasch village since we've reached that final marking the path had become pretty straightforward, I guess it makes sense why the boy had been standing guard at that location.

I noticed a lack of explosions since we split up the party, and she seemingly returned to the role of medic which seemed a little unsettling. Another thing I've noticed that when she thought I wasn't looking she began to use Resta on herself, after a few times it seemed apparent she was trying to recover her mental strength rather than her physical energy.

Techniques fall into the category of "Arts" and all arts use take up a bit of both mental and physical energy. Resta may restore physical energy but it doesn't quite restore mental strength. This should be one of the first things she should have been taught…

"Hey, Em? I-"

"Hurry Up! We're almost at the Kasch Village!" She rushed off on ahead before I could finish my sentence.  
Suddenly the ground started to shake violently we tried to stay balanced until it eventually subsided.  
"Whoa, something tells me that wasn't an earthquake."

We both made a mad dash on ahead but the ground only continued to shake.

"The shaking's getting closer hurry up!" She ran off on her own then suddenly a giant armoured beast emerged from the ground on all fours.

The monster's head was covered with a large stone plating with a horn but it's back seemed to be less protected.  
"That thing looks as tough as a tank! Well, That rules out a frontal assault."

"Yeah… I sort of figured that much out…" I replied as the beast slowly walked towards us.  
"Any ideas?"

"Why are you asking me? You're the-" Suddenly the beast let out a loud roar as his body received a large electric charge before he charged towards us.  
Emilia and I had quickly rolled in different directions.

The horned beast had slowly turned towards me. I turned my head to Emilia and she nodded in response as she began to hit it with a series of fireballs each landing on it causing some damage to it's exposed parts.

As he turned towards her I made a dash at the horned beast and began to hit it from behind with a series of strikes using a photon art, but before I could cancel it and back away it released a wave of electricity around him. As the bolts of electricity coursed through my body I let out a scream, I then found myself unable to move.

Once the attack had ended I found that my body was completely unable to move. He turned towards me and let out a little growl as he prepared to charge once more but then suddenly he was hit with an explosive attack from the side.

"Get away from him!" Emilia shouted as he turned towards her, she continued to attack him with Rafoie, but the mask prevented him from taking any damage.

"Oh no…" She whimpered when the beast brushed it off as he walked slowly towards her. When charged at her with thunder dash attack she let out a scream as she moved out of the way.

Analyzing the situation Emilia was much faster than me but she's used up quite a bit of energy throwing those techniques at him, so I can't be entirely sure how long she would be able to avoid his dashes before she would wear herself out… but that and his electric wave seemed to be his only attacks as far as I know.

Also, the electricity seemed to have cancelled out my blade's effect because he's been moving at the same speed as earlier...  
It's exposed skin was also pretty rough, I had a tough time cutting it even with a photon art, and he managed to take a Rafoie to the exposed side like a champ.

I activated my visor but the screen was filled with nothing but static and I couldn't seem to get in contact with Rose or even perform a manual scan. I had an idea on what must be done, but if I was wrong I'd be a dead man.

While I sat on the ground still paralyzed from that shockwave, I began to hesitate. Even if I did manage to survive, Emilia would kill me… but if I do nothing we'll never get to the village in time, and that's if we live

"I hope I'm right about this…" I sighed as I struggled to reach into my coat to pull out a bottle of Antimate.

Emilia held her head in pain as she was cornered by the beast.  
I drank the bottle and dashed towards the beast as fast as I could.

With a flurry of slashes to his behind, and just as planned her turned towards me but only this time I was able to make a run for it but once I got far enough I planted my blade firmly into the cracks of the ground and sat down.

Without thinking about it the beast dashed towards me, that's when everything was in place.

"Are you crazy? What are you doing? Move!" Emilia shouted at me but I didn't move a muscle.

To elaborate on my plan, It's not very complicated. It's really no different from the boulder.  
I needed a specific tech to hit a specific part, so I forced Emilia to perform an advanced technique by manipulating her emotions.

Currently, we're faced with an enemy we have no means of taking down.  
Blade's are not effective and her attacks were simply too weak.  
Our only hope was to optimize damage by hitting him with our strongest attack at his most vulnerable spot.

Before the beast could even reach me I hear the sound of an explosion and the beast came flying over me and fell into the abyss.

I got up and dusted off my coat as I prepared for the worst, and before I knew it I was knocked back by a fist to my face and picked up by my shirt collar, apparently, she was stronger than she looked.

"What were you thinking?!" She shouted as she violently shook me, she sounded like she was absolutely done with me, but I can't say I expected anything different. It's been a day and I've managed to endanger myself 4 times, and there was also that little prank with the fake fire.

"I had no choice-Did you think I didn't notice? The entire way here you couldn't use Rafoie, right?" She seemed reluctant to answer me so I pulled myself back to release her hold on me.

"You overexerted yourself… but you were worried about the village so you kept it to yourself. Sound about right? Thanks to that you couldn't use your strongest attack when we needed your power the most. So, I had to give you a little push."

"Well- I… but what if- You would have-" Her tongue was tied, it seems I hit the nail on the mark.

"Oh, that... I believed you would be there to save me." When I first got the job I expected that I would need to save her, not the other way around.

Though I didn't doubt she would have done the same for anyone else.

All I was worried about was that whether or not I was right about its weak point. Not that I know if I actually was… The beast sort of built up momentum and the explosion seemed to have been powerful enough to send it flying if that makes any sense.

What I learned from today was that Emilia apparently had strangely exceptional analytical abilities, but was still quite naive, she was still a kid after all. But that worked in my favour, if she continued to play the gullible kid I'd be able to use my position as her "partner" to make her my tool, as long as I played nice.

"Come on… If you really wanna yell at me, do it when we get back." I sighed as I walked on ahead.

When we got to the village, I saw a terrifying sight, the source of all that boy's rage. The entire village was up in flames. The sky was covered entirely in a dark cloud of smoke.

"I'm too late… " I trailed off as I stared in horror as I gripped my blade tightly as I looked for the person who caused this.

"What happened here? Why would anyone do this? Look, over there!" Emilia pointed at a group of people, one of which was the man we were supposed to track down. They were all being lead by a silver-haired man clad in a long dark coat.

"The way forward is open. I have no more need for you. Leave me. Go where you will!" The man said to the men with a wicked grin on his face.

"Whoever they are they're not Kasch. They're nothing like the boy we saw before."

"No shit… That bastard... " I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. I tried my best to hold myself back and fighting him on my own, we had no idea what he was capable, plus Emilia wasn't in the best shape to be casting techniques.

"The one in black, what's he holding? That red… tablet, or whatever it is. Wait, next to him that's Wurley Kukov."

Suddenly the man noticed us.  
"You're not of the Kasch, why are you here?"

"Why are WE here?! You did this to the village didn't you?" Emilia shouted

"And what if I did? What would you do? Defy me with your weak, mortal flesh?" the man crossed his arms unimpressed.

"Weak and Mortal, check!" She pointed at the man… "What the heck are you talking about?"

"Stupid creature, Even this is beyond your comprehension. It is just as well. Your pathetic existence ends now."

The man leapt towards us. He glanced towards Emilia but before he could move I dashed towards him with my saber but in one swift motion he managed to both knock my blade out of my hand and leave a large cut along my chest.

I didn't even see him lift a finger. I fell to the ground and my blade land tip first into the ground near my head.

"Cyruss!" Emilia cried out.

I turned my head towards Emilia as the man moved towards her with a dark aura surrounding him as he wrapped his hand around her throat.

"Emilia…" I groaned weakly as she screamed.  
Suddenly a familiar flash of light formed around her, and behind her a sun-shaped glyph.

"I know that power, did you think I wouldn't notice?" Emilia said… with a different voice?

"Emilia?" That's when I put 2 and 2 together, I had no real choice but to believe. Although I had almost completely forgotten about her since I dismissed out encounter as a hallucination.

The man glared at her before backing away, and Emilia passed out and I followed soon after.

Suddenly I feel someone flip me over and force a bottle of some kind of recovery medicine down my throat…  
Although, I couldn't guess which one since they all tasted the same to me.

"Whoa, what's going on? We finally catch up to you, and this is what we find?" Tonnio violently shook me awake.

"The village is burning! Who did this?" Liina demanded an answer.

"Em… Emilia!" I pushed Tonnio off me and was about to run to her side but then I caught a glimpse of the man running away. I couldn't let the man get away with this!

As I was about to chase after him I hear Liina behind me.

"Where are you going?! You can't leave your partner like this!"

When she said that I reminded myself that this kid had saved me 4 times today… besides I made a promise to Emilia I wouldn't run off alone…  
(I broke it twice already but that's beside the point.)

"Dammit…" I muttered as I ran towards Emilia.

"Well, I don't think she's hurt too bad," Liina said as she examined Emilia's unconscious body.

"She's passed out but her wounds aren't life-threatening."

"Hey! Get back here!" Tonnio shouted at the strangers who made a break for it.  
"Who do they think they are? We blink, and they go running off in their ships!"

"If they think they can ransack a cultural site like this and get away with it, they got another thing coming." The angry little man shouted.

"Don't you think they were acting a little funny?" Liina asked.  
"They didn't react at all when we tried to talk to them. Like they were sleepwalking."

Emilia's communicator began to ring. I checked the name and saw it was the boss.  
I was tempted to ignore the call but answered it anyway.

"Hey, Wurley's ship is on the move! Don't just sit there, go after 'em! What's going on down there, Emilia?"

"Quit shouting! We can hear you just fine over the comlink!" Liina replied as she sat beside me.

"Who are you supposed to be?" He asked.

"I'm a freelance mercenary who happens to be working with Emilia. She's hurt. In fact, she's unconscious, so try and keep it down."

"That's just like her, getting hurt when there's work to be down!" She shook his head.

"What was that sir?" I growled. I didn't particularly care for the way he spoke about the injured.  
I questioned why Emilia would even care about this guy's respect.

"Fine, I'll chase after Wurley. Get your butts back here." He said as he closed the coms.

"Son of a-" I swore under my breath.

"How are we gonna explain what happened?" Tonnio asked us but I didn't respond…  
I had a long day and wasn't sure how much longer I could keep up the charade. I just sat close to the kid…er, Emilia.

"We need to track down everyone who got away and start asking questions," Liina replied.

"In that case, maybe we should hand the Kasch boy over to them." Tonnio scratched the back of his head.  
"His wounds are treated. With a little rest, he should wake up on his own that will leave us free to investigate what happened.."

"In that case, take this… Can you... do me a favour?" I handed them May's contact information with a little note with the letter C on it.  
"Make a list of whoever you find and write their names on the other side of that note and give it to her. If I'm right, you'll get interesting results... Meanwhile, I'll take the kids back with me."

"If we find anything out, we'll let you know. Take care." Liina said as we parted ways.

Once I was back on the ship headed to Little wing I had quite a lot of things to think about. The missing people, Mika, and the man in black. They had to be connected somehow.


	7. 2-3

I lifted my shirt and looked down at the cut across my chest, it had stopped bleeding thanks to the stuff Tonnio had given me but I didn't think it was a good idea to leave it as it was. While the kids in the back lied unconscious I bandaged up my wound behind the captain's chair. My hand quivered as I looked down at the wound, my mental wounds had hurt more than the cut across my chest. The man in black, The moment wrapped his hand around Emilia's throat was burned into my memory.  
The dark aura that surrounded him was so dark, so cold, and resentful...  
No doubt if Liina hadn't stopped me I would have been killed without a second thought.  
Although the man had a clear opening, I couldn't understand why I was still alive.

Anyways…  
Judging from what I saw there was no denying that the lady from before was not just another hallucination.  
She took control of Emilia and chased off the man in black.  
If that was true it would mean there was a high probability that what she told me was also true.  
None of this was a dream, and I really died.  
Although, I probably knew this all alone. It was just so much easier to deny it.

But… What can I do?

I turned towards the kids and began to think about how special they were. Emilia had so much potential to grow into someone great and that wasn't even counting the fact she had an ancient spirit inside her, and the boy was strong enough to take down 3 of us together, 2 of which were no doubt more experienced.  
And there was me, a force who can't even touch a staff and my skill with the blade was mediocre at best, a hero who failed to save anyone…

Well, I saved Emilia one, but I wasn't sure that counted.  
It felt more like something I had to do rather than something I wanted to do.  
I wasn't sure what had possessed me to push her out of the way.

When I finished patching myself up I pulled a fresh shirt and jacket out of the little pocket dimension known as the nano-transistor.  
It was a good thing Rose had put me into the habit of taking extra clothes with me on missions. I stored away my damaged coat and shirt.

She was a useful partner machine, I doubt I would have lasted as long as I did without her.  
She was the only company I've had for the past 3 years.

Before I knew we were back home, and the second we landed Kraz made contact with me through the ship's communicator, a tiny holographic Kraz appeared on the little pedestal in the center of the ship. "Good, you're back. You've got some 'splainin to do- after we take care of her… You on it Chelsea?"

"Mais Oui. But there are two, no?" Chelsea's hologram appeared beside him.

"Two problems for the price of one." He muttered under his breath as he scratched his cheek.

"Nothing to be done. Take care of the both of 'em, Chelsea. Ad for you, get down here and meet me in the cafe. I'll tell you more when you get here."

"Yeah, I'll be right there," I replied as the connection cut off before I did that I needed to go back to my room for a moment.

I needed to see if Rose could replace my visor and up its shock resistance if she can.  
I needed to replace the old thing anyway. Not a moment after I left the ship I walked towards the residential area of the office.

As I passed through the sliding door into my room I instantly noticed a big black steel briefcase sitting on the foot of my bed.

"Rose?" I called out but there was no answer the little robot had disappeared.  
I could never guess what she does when I wasn't looking, but I gotta admit I was curious.

My stomach began to sink as undid the latches and slowly opened the box.  
Inside was a left gauntlet with a big silver ball with red 4 red trimmings each of them ran along an opposing axis to another but met up at the back at a single point. in the front of the ball was a big black circle that looked like a cross between a camera lens and an eye.

"A Tech mag?" I muttered as I pulled the gauntlet out of the box. This was a weapon that allowed us to cast techniques, much like a wand or a staff. Except that their output is usually weaker but the casting time is much quicker and the fact we can move as we cast makes it much more versatile, especially alongside a saber.

my hands began to shake uncontrollably and my vision began to get blurry.  
I quickly pushed it back inside the box and slammed the case closed before bolting out of the room.

"What the hell was she thinking?" I panted as I leaned against the wall in the hall.  
I intended to question her about it as well as my visor next time I see her.

There was only one thing left for me to do at the moment and I wasn't looking forward to it.  
I made my way to the cafe where the boss was waiting for me.

The second I entered the room I immediately noticed the man lazily wave at me from the corner booth.  
I took a deep breath as I braced for the worst.

"Hope you don't mind, I started without you." He grinned as I took a seat across from him.

"Clearly…" I said as I tried to fan away the intoxicating scent.  
"Should you be drinking on the clock?" I crossed my arms.

"Listen. You don't tell me how much to work while I'm drinking, and I don't throw you out of an airlock. Deal?" He grumbled as he took another sip from a flask.  
Truly he was the epitome of a role model, Emilia was one lucky girl.

"Anyhow, I caught up with Wurley. In addition to the money he owed me, he had quite a story to tell." He leaned forward with his elbow on the table.

"I'll spare you the details and jump to the end. Wurley doesn't remember going to Crodog. One day he's minding his own business, the next thing he knows he's standing in the middle of a burning village."

"How can you be sure he's telling the truth?" I said skeptically.

The man in front of me crossed his arms and let out a short breath.  
"I've known him for a long time, and he's not the kind of guy that goes making up stuff like that," he said in a serious tone, I couldn't sense any hesitation within his words. He was certain the man wasn't lying and I had no reason to doubt Kraz's judgement...

"I see… So he couldn't remember anything?" If I were to guess this would mean the enemy was capable of controlling others somehow.

"Anyways, You did a good job, considering what I gave you to work with. Keep it up." I wasn't sure if he was talking about the job or Emilia, either way, it didn't matter all that much. Kraz patted my shoulder as he left the cafe before I left I bought a dark cup of coffee and made my way out but when I left ran into the devil herself.

"Hey… Emilia." I greeted awkwardly since she caught me off guard I had no idea what to say.

"Oh, hi…" She let out a soft sigh.

"Glad to see you're awake… I-Uh- I got you some coffee." I handed her my cup but she gently pushed it out of her face.

"Uh thanks, but no thanks. I heard Kraz called you down for a talk. Was he steaming or what?" she said with a troubled gaze.

"No more than usual." I scratched the back of my head.

"Oh, Really?" She smiled like it was the first bit of good news she heard in a while.

"Well, that's a relief." She sighed softly.

I suppose she was scared whether or not she was going to get an earful for failing our job…  
Come to think of it, we were never paid for taking down De Ragan…  
I gotta ask the boss about that next time I see him.

Oh, right the story.

"Listen, there was something I wanted to talk to you about. Something private. Meet me on the ship, okay?" She said as she walked away towards transporter.

"I have a feeling this isn't going to be a very pleasant chat… can't I just have one minute of peace?" I took a large gulp for my cup as I followed her to the ship.

Once I arrived I noticed her standing behind the pedestal staring at the holographic planets that vanished when she noticed me.

I walked towards her and stood on the other end of the pedestal.  
There was a long silence, I waited to hear what she had to say, and she seemed to have needed a minute to gather her thoughts.  
All was quiet until her voice broke the silence.

"I wanted to talk to you about what happened down in the Kasch Village… I fought the man in black, didn't I…?"  
I assumed she meant what happened after Mika saved her, anything before that I wouldn't call anything as one-sided as that a fight.  
I wanted to tell her about Mika, but I was a little afraid she wouldn't believe me. Although, I didn't have much of a choice… did I?

"Emilia? I know this might sound crazy but… that-that wasn't you!" I blurted out as quickly as I could just so I could get it over with.

"What? but if that wasn't me then who was it?" The confusion in her voice was unmistakable, it was similar to what I felt when Mika first appeared to me. At the time I couldn't tell if anything was real, or if everything around me was some sort of dream. But there was no more denying that this was all real.

"I felt my body move, but it was like I wasn't in control. I didn't think I had that kind of strength. If the man in black was really there, and the attack on the village really happened, then it all must be real."

"Yes, all too real." We suddenly heard a voice come from out of nowhere.

"Wh-Who said that?!" She said as she scanned the room for the source of the voice.  
That was when we saw her, the goddess-like entity standing before us in an aura of light.

"At last, you are ready to acknowledge my presence." She said with a smile.  
Emilia and I stared blankly at the woman. I thought I was fully prepared to accept Mika as real but her appearing out of Emilia like that was just… unreal.  
Mika was in no way making this easy for anyone.

"Just so to clarify, You see the glowing lady too, right? I'm not crazy…?" Emilia nodded vacantly.  
"Good..." I calmly took another sip from my cup.

"Who are you? Were you… inside of me?!" Emilia tried her best to remain calm but failed to hide the shocked expression on her face.

"My name is Mika. I am one of the people you call the Ancients, and I live within you." During the introduction, Emilia suddenly clutched tightly to the side of her head as she fell to her knees.

"What? What's happening? I feel a… a rushing inside my head."

"Do you mean a head rush?" I asked as I calmly stared down at the girl on the floor and took another sip from my cup.

"I am sharing my memories with you. It is a far better way to explain to you who I am, and why I am here." Mika explained.

"No way! This can't be happening." Emilia began to hyperventilate before letting out a little scream.

"I understand your doubts, but I assure you, this is all very real." Mika kneeled down next to Emilia trying her best to calm her down.

"If his plan works, he's going to kill us. He's going to kill everyone!" She cried out.

"If you consider the body a vessel, and the mind a life, then yes, that life will be snuffed out."

I stood there with my arms crossed as Emilia picked herself off the ground and took a minute to collect her thoughts, an ancient messed with her mind, I'd be surprised if she could just walk that off.

"It's all true… That means everything that happened in the relic site is true, too… You took my place. You died instead of me… You died… because of me." Emilia stared at me with a pitiful expression, I stared down at the floor to avoid meeting her gaze.

"Forgive me for forcing all this on you. I will go now. You need time to take it in. When you're ready, call me and I will come." With that said she faded away like a dying light.

There was another awkward silence in the ship…  
It was unsettling, it was almost like the silence itself had somehow been amplified... if that makes any sense.  
I would have said something for the sake of saying something but couldn't think of anything that would be appropriate.

"It was real. All of it. You died protecting me. If I had been more careful… If I had been ready, none of that would have happened." The way she said that made my heart drop… I wish there was something I could say, but it felt like anything I said would be the wrong thing so I stayed silent.

"I haven't thought about anything but myself."

"Don't worry about it…" I tried to calm her down but I knew that might not have the right thing to say.

"How can I not worry about it?! " She took a step closer to me with a determined look in her eye. It sort of reminded me of back at the ruins when she stopped me from running in deeper on my own.

"Someone died because of me. How can I live with that?"

"Emilia…" I trailed off.

"I've always said I don't like fighting. That I'm not right for this job.  
But that doesn't matter anymore! I want to learn how to fight, and I want you to teach me!"

"Wait, what?" My eyes widened as I took a clumsy step backwards, my cup of hot coffee slightly spilt into my hand leaving a light red burn mark.  
Not that I reacted to it very much, what a funny way to realize that my elemental defence also applied to coffee burns.

"I know it's asking a lot, but it's important to me!" She took another step closer.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! I- I'm not a… I mean I can't- I-" There was a strong feeling of shame within my heart and I could feel my stomach heave as I continued to stare frightfully into her eyes. I clenched my fists tightly to stop myself from trembling but forgot about the cup in my hand.  
Gotta say, I'm glad I was a force, otherwise it would have felt way worse than it already did.

Anyways...The faith of Gurhal was tossed into her hands a moment ago… She just picked herself off the ground.  
I couldn't understand how this brat could be so strong… or why she would believe I could help her.  
I wanted to run away but it was like my feet were frozen in place.  
I would have declined outright but considering what was at risk I was thrown in between a rock and a hard place.  
I looked at Emilia and saw a reflection of my past-self determined to save the world but that also meant she could end up like many of the other hopeful heroes.

Though unlike us, she didn't seem to have much of a choice since we were the only two people who knew Gurhal was in danger at all.  
That was when I realized the only way to get her out of that role was to take it up on my own,  
I needed to kill the man in black, but if I wanted to even stand a chance against him I would need my full power…  
First I had to make sure Emilia wouldn't chase after him.  
I had to make her see that there was no way she would ever beat that man.

"Fine… on one condition." I exhaled.

"Anything!" she pumped up her fists….  
I had set a special mission for her and gave her one hour to prepare.  
When I returned to my room I saw the little blue-haired robot standing in front of me, she turned around and looked at me with a startled look on her face.

"You're back! Here you go!" She said with a crooked smile as she gave me a new visor.

"Rose? What's with that black box?" I asked as I placed the visor onto my ear.

"Oh… Don't worry about that, It's just something I brought back from- I'll put it away right away!" She quickly ran towards the bed to put it somewhere but I slowly followed behind. When she turned around she looked up with a distressed look in her eyes as I took the box from her hands.

"D-don't open it!" She pleaded.  
I placed it on the bed and tried to open it but I felt her little arms pull on me.  
I knew what was inside though I didn't expect her to have this kind of reaction, it was funny to see her act so human.  
Once I opened it I put on the gauntlet and channelled my power into it. Then the little ball inside floated up beside me.  
Though I was shaken up by it I refused to let myself fall… I guess some of Emilia's determination had rubbed off on me.

There was also the fact that I wanted to save her from trying to playing hero.  
If I could show her that this was harder than she thought maybe she would give up…  
Then while she's out of the picture I would go and find the man and kill him…

Yeah, I told you I wasn't done being stupid.

The man in black was an enemy with an ancient with an  
I couldn't imagine Emilia standing a chance against him, even if I did train her.

On top of that, there was no telling how much time we had before he succeeds in whatever he's planning.  
I looked down at the glove and took a deep breath and relaxed my arm. After activating it I didn't really need to channel energy into it to keep it floating.

"I didn't think you would be ready so soon." She said reluctantly. It not that I was ready, it was that I didn't have much choice.

To test it out I used a Resta on myself. As the light enveloped me I began to breath more heavily and my chest began to tighten up. I saw nothing but the blinding light surrounding me that began to immediately die down but my raised heart rate remained the same. As the light began to fade I saw Rose's eyes glowing bright blue.  
When the light was completely gone I fell on all fours.

"Rose?" I gasped for air.

"It's just as I thought… You are still too mentally unstable, calibrating limiter…  
I will continue to monitor your energy output and act accordingly." She said tried to help me back up.  
"I planned to give it to you when you've readjusted to combat."

"I-I see… Thank you... Rose." I patted her on the head and smiled as I stood back up.

"Do you still want to use it?" She stared blankly at me.

"Yeah." I sighed as I got back up and informed her about the mission I set up for Emilia, I asked her to prepare some things for me.

We've arrived at the RELIC site where we first met. This time I had her enter alone destroy and collect the flag I left at the end of the hall, of course, I told her to expect a monster near the end.  
With the Help of Rose and Emilia's Partner card, I was able to keep track of her progress through the entire mission, as well as see any hostiles that appear around her.

I expected her to run away after the first swarm of monsters but…  
she did the exact same thing as I did the first time we came here.  
She avoided large groups of enemies and made sure she had the jump on them before taking them down quickly.

"What was he thinking? Doesn't he know what's at stake?" I heard Emilia grumble over the com, thou

"Perhaps this is a part of your training." I heard Mika say in the background.

Emilia peeked around the corner and saw two Evil sharks squawking at each other.

"Grr… I hope you're right…" As she leapt from the corner she caught the attention of the two monsters but before they can react she sent a wave of ice towards them freezing them both in place before hitting them with a Rafoie.

What she overlooked was the fact that Rafoie was an explosion, and explosions make a lot of noise.

The blast had caught the attention of all nearby hordes of enemies she had been trying to avoid running into.  
"Emilia! Look out!" Mika warned her about the dozens of reptiles that ran towards her from behind.

Once Emilia let out a high pitched scream into the com, I muted her com.

"Cyruss? Are you sure this was a good idea?" Rose asked as I fiddled around with the visor.

"It's Emilia we're talking about, She'll give up soon enough."

"Didn't you say you believed in her?" Rose replied.

"That was a lie, obviously…." I said bluntly as I sat on the cold concrete ground but remained silent.

I thought back to my time as a Guardian. All of my success was heavily due to my partner's hard work.  
Once I went on a mission without them I had the hardest time fending for myself.  
I've always figured that I had the worst test scores so they paired me up with the best possible partner to pick up my slack.

"She made it past the first section," Rose's voice snapped me back to reality. I sat back up and resumed monitoring the brat. she had passed the first marker with a large chunk of her health intact.

"I think we've lost them... I don't sense them anymore." Mika sounded as calm and composed as usual.

"Great... How much further do you think we have?" She asked.

"I think we still have a ways to go..."

"Who is she talking to?" Rose asked, Making it clear that she couldn't even hear Mika, it was just like before.  
But the fact both me and Emilia could hear her was proof enough for me to believe she's real.  
Emilia made it to the laser fences that I reactivated on my way here, although I left the door behind her so she could run if she chose to.

She took a deep breath as she reluctantly jumped over the gate and continued to move as she ducked under the slowly moving lasers overhead. Before she could jump over the final set of bars it vanished and reappeared as an impassable wall that slowly moved towards her but gradually sped up but stopped when she was no longer between the bars on the side of the wall.

"What now?" Emilia began to ponder for a brief moment but stood up and walked towards the walls.

"Emilia? What are you doing?" Mika's concern in her voice was loud and clear even through the com.

Emilia stepped on the platform and reached out for the lasers but they moved back towards the wall.

Once on the other side, she began to charge up an attack as she pressed the button and as the drones appeared similar to last time she was ready and let out a Rafoie that destroyed the two in front of her, once the drones were destroyed the door opened.

All that was left was the long corridor that leads to the flag.  
It was for the last line of defence…I stepped forward as Emilia and Mika entered the Room.

She looked at me with a puzzled look.

"Cyruss? What are you doing here?" She asked, all I told her was that there'd be a monster here, I didn't exactly tell her it was me. When she entered the maze I had ran on ahead of her. I was lucky Rose was able to find a digital map of this place once the mercenaries finished scouting around.

And there I was.

"Emilia, Look out!" As Mika shouted that I summoned the tech-mag to my side and launched a fireball towards her, the attack was much faster than what she had seen, or what she was able to cast herself.

Thanks to Mika's warning she was able to narrowly avoid the attack.

"What the heck?!" She shouted angrily. I had to show off as much power as I could to frighten her away.

"No hard feelings, okay?" I bit my lip as I continued to launch 3 of them simultaneous, and another 3 immediately after. Just from those 6, I felt a crack in my own mind, but I refused to give in.

Emilia tried to block an incoming flame with her own Foie but upon collision my flame consumed hers and continued to travel towards her, effectively sending her sliding away. As the attack made impact with her I instinctively clenched my teeth almost like I was the one who's been hit.

I continued to attack with a trembling arm. Each attack pulled at my mind and tore my heart apart.  
And this shown in my flames as they seemed to curve off into some other direction.

Fortunately for me, Rose's limiter prevented my power from going completely out of my control.

As she got up she turned glared at me but I tried to avoid her gaze as I sent another foie at her, she quickly rolled out of the way before darting towards me with a saber in her hand.

"Damfoie…" This Technique was sort of a flamethrower, I used this in a widespread and aimed it down at her feet to create a wall of fire between me and her. Using this technique I managed to push her back. Once the wall receded I knocked her back with a light Rafoie.

Just from using 3 fire techniques I've managed to back her into a corner just as planned. She couldn't come closer or she'd get burned, and she can't fight from a distance thanks to my own foie. According to her she only knows Foie, Barta, and Resta…

plus Rafoie but she takes far too long to attack with that.

She gave me an icy stare as she got back to her feet and pulled out her own tech mag alongside her saber. Her first move was to send a trail of ice towards me with Barta. As the technique approached I had mentally seen several ways I could block it… so I picked the one that would require the least amount of effort.

I planted my sword into the ground in front of me to let its effect absorb the impact as I continued to shoot fireballs towards her. Surprisingly she managed to avoid these attacks while she ran towards me as she began to charge an attack while she moved around, but the fact she had to charge it up made it pretty predictable what she was going to do…

I needed to decide what my response would be… If I created another wall she could easily bypass it with rafoie, a simple foie was easy to avoid with the tech-mag by her side… leaving me with one option.

With a snap of my fingers I sent another Rafoie towards her but at the same time, she released her technique.

Our Explosions collided with one another. A blinding flash envelops the room followed a booming sound that echoed throughout the chamber… As the dust began to recede I scanned the room and saw her lying on the ground.

"E-Emilia?" I took a look at her remaining Health, when I saw how low it was I ran towards them without thinking.

"Em? Emilia!" I shook her lightly when I saw the smile on her face I knew something was up.

"Gotcha!" she said with a sly grin as she clenched her fist I felt a sudden large ball of fire struck me from the front, by the time I noticed the little ball floating in front of me it was too late, at this range there was no avoiding it.

The ball knocked me back a few feet away but despite it being charged it was retentively weak, Though the explosive knockback was all she needed from this attack. It wasn't as strong as Rafoie but the knockback still had it's uses.

Emilia quickly darted towards the flag at a speed much faster than my own, but I knew I could still knock her out with a foie…  
I aimed my tech-mag towards her but… lowered my weapon.

She bested me and I saw it in her eyes clear as day… Even if I did defeat her here she would only return. She'd only continue to fight, and if I dragged this on I'd only be wasting time. Upon the realization, I felt a tear fall down my check. I let out a miserable chuckle as I wiped it from my face.

"Guess I couldn't do it…" I hung my head in shame as I sat on the ground, that was when I heard the sound of footsteps swiftly approach me then suddenly stopped in front of me.

"I won… Now, will you train me?" She smiled proudly with the golden flag in hand as she offered me the other.

"Y-yeah, a deal's a deal…" I sighed as I took her hand once I was up I quickly notice that she was quivering as she stood up.

"Em?" suddenly she fell unconscious.

"She'll be fine, she's just exhausted." Mika appeared in front of me.

"Uh… I know this is a long shot but… Any chance you can carry her back to the ship?" She looked at me with soft eyes. "Of course…"

I carried the kid on my back I noticed Mika standing behind.

"If you wanna say something say it…" The fact she was still outside of Emilia's… Mind? Body? Soul?… Outside of Emilia was odd enough. So I made a guess.

"Why did you really do all this?" I let out a short breath as I debated to give her an honest answer, but call it a hunch but it felt like she'd see through any lie I tell at the moment. Or maybe I actually saw what I wanted.

"Can she hear us?" I asked as I turned towards her with a deadpan face. No tricks, no fake smiles…

"She cannot and she won't be up for a while." She said calmly.

"And you promise you won't tell her?" She nodded firmly with a serious expression.

"It was really something I've decided on-impulse. All I really knew was that I had to stop Emilia."

"S-Stop Emilia?" Her voice sounded surprised but her expression remained the same, it was probably closer to disappointed than actual shock.

"Heh, I realize how stupid that must sound considering what she's trying to do and what's at risk…" I grinned sadly as I turned my gaze away from hers.

"Then why?"

"Because… It felt hopeless…" My sorrow then turned into anger.  
"You know as well as I do that Emilia has no chance of beating him! How can you force her into this?!"  
But I wasn't angry at her, I was just angry in general.

"I-I'm sorry… I had no other c-" Mika tried to reach out but I continued to yell.

"Don't give me that! Why Her? Why did it have to be her?" By this point, I wasn't even sure I was talking about Emilia anymore,  
No, I guess I knew who I was thinking about.

"It was her own choice… No one forced her into it… I know that…" I calmed myself down. My tears weren't for Emilia not in the slightest.

"Cyruss? What would you have done if your plan had worked? If Emilia had given up, would you be okay with what would happen next?" She asked.

"No… I-I would have fought him on my own. That's the only reason why I forced myself to pick up this." I pumped my left fist to summon the tech-mag to my side. Honestly, a big reason I spilled my guts here was likely because of the mental power I've exhausted during that fight. With my mental walls weakened there wasn't really a whole lot left to help me keep my emotions in check.

"But you would have died! I mean- Do you know how Emilia would feel if-"

"That doesn't matter to me. Don't get me wrong, I might have been trying to save Emilia from playing hero but it was for my own sanity's sake… If I died fighting against him… There'd nothing left to be concerned about." I said with a smile.

The look of disappointment on her face was unmistakable, if I had to describe it I would say it looked sort of… motherly.  
It was sort of difficult not to feel a little regret for saying what I did even if it was how I felt.

"Anyways, if we stay here for too long something might activate again. And I'm not sure I'll be able to protect Emilia if that happens. So if you have anything else to say it'll have to wait until we get to the ship."

Once Mika had disappeared from my sight I continued to make my way out of the ruins and made it back to the ship without much trouble. Surprisingly Mika hadn't questioned me on the way back to Little Wing but halfway there Emilia had woken up at the back of the room as I lamented my promotion from babysitter to tutor.

"Morning." I sighed as I hunched withing my chair and clasped my hands together.

"Where are we?" She yawned as she stood back up.

"The Ship… You know, this ship should really have a bed or something. After all the people we've had to put on the floor, You that kid, you again… and I'm almost certain Kraz had dragged us both back to Little Wing the same way." I rambled.

"I-I won, right?" She sounded less than excited.

"Yeah… You beat me fair and square." I said as I summoned out the golden flag to my side. Although what she did was a dirty trick, can't say I didn't deserve it though.

"Phew, Showing initiative is harder than I thought?" She let out a sigh.  
And the Emilia I knew was back.

"I thought getting out would take my mind off things… So much for that. Mika, can we talk now?"

"Of course, have you thought things over?" Mika appeared beside her.

"Honestly, It's all still a little confusing. But if what you showed me is true, I don't have time to be confused…" Emilia replied.

"Your answer then?" Mika asked, needless to say, Mika and I were hoping for the opposite reactions but we both knew what she was going to say.

"I believe you." She said confidently.  
"Or at least, Since you live inside me, I don't have much choice about it, do I? What do you think?"

Emilia turned towards me with a serious expression.  
"It's just as you say, We don't have much of a choice but to believe,"I replied

I gave up trying to talk her out of it.  
All that was left for me to do was for me to lend her my strength.

"Thank you… Both of you" Mika smiled weakly.

"Yeah… Well if it's between you and the man in black, I think it's safe to say you're the better of the two." I replied.

"So I'll help… but I'm not sure how much help I'll be. Just what is it you need me to do?"

"Mika? What's the plan?" I asked hoping for a better answer than running off to hunt down the man and fight him directly. You know, better than my plan.

"That remains to be seen. We must see where our investigation leads us." We had no idea who the man in black was or who how he was going to put his plan to fruition.

"So, we're still at square one. The only thing we know is that we can't let the subspace research continue."

I think I've missed something important here, the one thing they knew was something I had no idea about.  
But I was against subspace from the start so I vacantly nodded.

"But how do we stop an interplanetary research project?"

Well… no one else was likely to believe us without evidence and…  
Even if I was certain they'd believe us I would absolutely refuse to ask the Guardians for help.

Which brings me to one last option and it was… pretty sad all things considered.

"Let's talk to Kraz…" I grinned anxiously.

"Kraz? He'll never believe us. Laugh us out of the room is more like it." She scoffed.

"You got a better idea?" I said in a flat tone.

"He is our boss… I guess it couldn't hurt to run it past him." With that said we left the ship immediately.  
Man, I was exhausted. Unlike Emilia, I hadn't gotten a wink of sleep since we before we fought De Ragan…  
I just couldn't catch a break.


	8. 3rd Universe: Hope by Design

My chest pounded heavily as I stood next to Emilia, in front of us was the large metal sliding doors that lead into the office. I didn't know how this was going to go considering we had no real evidence but we didn't have a whole lot of other options.  
"I'm starting to have second thoughts…" I said.

"Well, It might not be pretty, but we won't know unless we try. " She put on a stern face but was still visibly shaking as she walked inside, I took a deep breath before following her

To my surprise, Chelsea wasn't in her usual seat behind the desk. Emilia walked up to the desk and placed both hands flat on top near the edge.

"Chelsea? You here?" She called out as she scanned the room for the missing receptionist.

"Un moment! I have company you see?" We heard her voice from across the room.

"Company?" Emilia raised a brow as we heard several footsteps approach us, Chelsea appeared in front of us and behind here were a couple of familiar faces. The beastling from our previous mission.

"C'est tout! You're all signed up. Welcome to Little Wing!" Chelsea smiled cheerfully with her hands pressed together, I couldn't tell why she always seemed so overjoyed with every little thing, it was almost like she was incapable of feeling sadness.

"Proud to be part of the team," Liina replied.

"Y-You're going to be w-working h-here?" My voice crackled a through my gritted teeth and crooked smile.

"Yeah, We ran into Kraz while we were going after the ones who hit that Kasch village," Tonnio said stepped next to her casually smiling while Liina looked as happy as Chelsea usually is.

"And there were plenty of places we found our hands tied because we were freelancers. We needed help, Kraz needed help. It works out for us all." Tonnio added. All things considered, I was pretty fortunate to get this job when I did, from the sound of it freelancers had it tough finding work.

"As long as you don't mind running personal errands and getting tossed into relic sites without so much as a map," Emilia remarked as she rolled her eyes. Though I could see where she was coming from I can't understand why she thought she'd get a map on a scouting mission into an unexplored relic site.

"Working for Kraz can be a real chore sometimes. I hope you can take it."

Tonnio put his hands on his hips and said with a cocky grin.

"Guess we'll find out, won't we?"

"So, what happened to the Kasch boy?" Liina asked as Emilia and the Beastling stared each other down.

"Oh, good question. Is he still sleeping, Chelsea?" She turned towards the greed haired CAST.

"Ah, oui. He sleeps the sleep of the very still sleep." I didn't understand what she said but I assumed she meant he was still out cold.

She smiled widely and put her hands together.

"There is the occasional moan. The occasional grunting. But no good waking up he who is not prepared, no?"

I had become acutely aware that it was this lady who was watching me sleep when I first got here and slowly backed away from those 3 and moved behind Emilia. She slowly turned her head towards me and sighed.

"Right. Guess we'll go talk to Kraz first, then." She replied.

"If you're looking for Kraz, he's in the back. We were just talking to him." Tonnio pointed to Kraz's usual spot.

"Hey, now that we're part of the team, you might as well have our partner cards. And you..." Tonnio approached me.  
"There's something I was supposed to give you." As Tonio and Liina handed me their partner cards I felt a little white envelope with "M2C" on the front of it in written boldly with a black marker.

"Catch you around." He said as he and Liina walked away.

Kraz stared down intently at something down on his desk and smiled not noticing us approaching.

"Ooh, my, yes. She's coming along nicely. Sometimes the flower that blooms late is worth waiting for! Look at… Those petals! Oh, to be a gardener again…"

"Ah… he was looking at… flowers… I knew that." I muttered under my breath.

"Boss! What are you reading?! Aren't you supposed to be on Duty?" Emilia scolded.

"Hunh? Oh, Emilia, it's you. You sure you should be up 'n' screeching like that so soon?" Kraz looked up from his book and the smile completely disappeared from his face.

"Is it morning?" I yawned as I tried to remember the last time I slept. From De Ragan, I've been sent directly to Moatob, then after that, there was the business with Mika and that little mission, now we're confronting Kraz…

"I am NOT screeching!" Her screeching made me jump.

"Hmph. The explain to me why my ears are ringing." He said as he dug his finger into his ear. "Naw, on second thought, don't. I got a job for ya-"

"Actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about." She replied in a serious tone.

"I suppose you'll wanna know where you'll be going: a research lab belonging to the Inhelt Corporation."

"Hey! This sounds like it might be a real job" I chimed in.

"Um, excuse me? I said there was something I wanted to-"

Kraz turned to me and continued to explain the job.

"You'll be removing some unwanted lifeforms that escaped from the facility's surface-level environmental bio labs. Specifically-"

As I listened intensely at our assignment details Emilia cut in.

"Look, I don't care about some mop job! I need to talk to you about something!"

"Oh, right… that thing… almost forgot" I trailed off.

"Something more important than a request from a very, very good client?" Kraz raised a brow and crossed his arms. Though, I wondered if this was such a good client.  
(Why not send some of the more experienced employees…?  
Probably won't do me any good wondering that now.)

"Yes! Yes, it is! It's something that affects the entire Gurhal System!" I knew she was telling the truth but even I'd be skeptical about what she's saying.

"The entire… huh?"

"There's this ancient civilization, see? They want our system, and if we don't do something quick, they're going to take it!"

"Oh, the humanity…" I muttered under my breath. This sounds like something a crazy guy would preach on the side of the street.

"You don't say." Kraz sighed as she began to explain our entire situation. Each thing she said became even more unbelievable than the last. It was painful to watch… so I'll spare you the details.

"This is bad. REAL bad. Why am I the only one freaking out here?" She turned to me looking for support but I turned away with my fist covering my mouth.

"Hrm. Let's see now." Kraz replied calmly but the annoyance in his voice was clear to anyone listening. "Terrible threat to the system? Nah. Crusty invading civ? Nah. Ah! You freaking out? Yeah. I applaud your honesty."

"I'm being serious! We're all in terrible danger!" She shouted.

"...Of getting a headache. Oops. Too late. By the by, any idea which company's been taking the lead in subspace research?" He asked.

"...Inhelt Corporation?" She answered.

"The girl knows her stuff! Next question: which corporation wants us to help them out? Take your time." He said in a condescending tone.

"Inhelt Corporation… Wait, that's it! I have to get them to stop their subspace research immediately!"

How could she say things like this so confidently? I wondered… though not really out of awe this time around.

"Why do I always get the crazy ones? Why?" He grumbled softly. "You pull any of that nonsense with one of my clients and ancient invaders'll be the last of your problems."

"Why won't you believe me?! You're making a terrible mistake!" She continued to shout.

"No, my terrible mistake was hiring you. This is just me reaping what I sowed. A word to the wise: knock off the crazy shtick. You want me to believe the sky is falling? Or some ancient civ getting all up in our subspace? Show me proof."

"...If I get proof, you promise to hear me out?" I was shocked by her words, I actually thought she was going to pull out some piece of evidence I might have overlooked.

"Then HERE'S YOUR PROOF! Come forth. Mika!" Emilia called, then out came the brightly glowing goddess but the moment I saw the look in her eyes I realized the clear truth, no one else could see her.

"Shite... Em?" I spoke softly. I suppose I could have stopped her from talking but I sort of wanted to see how this train-wreck would turn out.

I've had suspicions about this when Rose couldn't see her. If anything I thought it was Mika's job to tell her these things, Was I shifting the blame? Yeah.

"Um…" Mika had no words.

'Well, Boss? How's that for proof?! Not every day you see someone possessed by a spirit from an ancient race."

"Emilia, I hate to intrude, but-"

"Go on Mika, tell him! Open up his beady little eyes and show him the truth!"

"I'm sorry, I should have told you this earlier. Normal people cannot see me." Emilia's eyes widened as Mika told her the truth.  
"...What?"

"This is really entertaining. Are you done yet?" Kraz replied.

"No, wait, she's here, really! She's beside… me." Now she really did sound crazy.

"I asked if WE'RE DONE!"

"I… uh… Oh, blast it all." She shouted before storming off.

"Feh. Maybe it was a mistake teaming Emilia up with you after all. I didn't think it was possible but she's gotten even worse!"

"I… I am so sorry you had to see that." I sighed.

"There are few things in this world that an apology can make better. Believe me, I've tried. Pay me back by workin'" He scoffed.

"Hold on… was that my out?!" I mentally screamed as I forced a polite smile.

"I'd be angry if I wasn't so full of crushing despair. Just go do your job. You can get the scoop at the Mission Terminal."

"Y-yessir…" I said as I bit my lip.

"And forgive me if the thought of you two out there doesn't fill me with confidence. Take the two new recruits with ya,"

"Son of a-" I bit my lip a little harder drawing a little blood.  
"Y-Yeah, of course."

"B-but, Boss-" Emilia returned. Though she probably never went very far.

"Shut mouth. 180-degree turn. Leave. Don't make my headache any worse than it is. You wouldn't like me when I'm grumpy." Kraz dismissed any further arguments and sent us away.

It didn't take us long to get to the lab with Tonnio and Liina aboard the ship. Though it felt like an eternity.

Tonnio casually blew a whistle as we entered the lab as he looked around the room. "So this is Inhelt. This place certainly looks impressive. Guess it pays to have the best tech."

"I'm a little more worried about our team then Inhelt right now…" Liina nervously glanced towards Emilia who was sulking by the entrance. Next to her was Mika though neither Liina nor Tonnio could see her.

She let out a sigh.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner, Mika?" She said.  
"So sorry…" Mika apologized for the hundredth time.

"She's been talking to herself all the way here," Liina said.

"Hey, you." Tonnio turned to me. "We need to get some work done here, so snap her out of it, 'kay?"

I took a deep breath and walked towards Emilia.

"Hey… You…" I said with a creepily unnatural smile… I am not terribly good nor am I comfortable at trying to comfort other people, never have and I doubt I ever will.

"Huh? Oh, it's you. Never mind me." She replied without even giving me a glance. "Boy, whatever good cred I had with the boss is shot now."

"I saw that coming…" I remarked without thinking.

"Well, why didn't you stop me then?! Boy, with partners like you, who needs enemies?!" She shouted furiously.

"S-Sorry, I-I was kidding…. It's not over yet. There's still hope."

"I can imagine how I must have looked where he was standing."  
"Yeah... that… that was something."I muttered.

"I have no idea how I'm going to convince him I'm telling the truth."

"I got no idea what you're talking about," Tonnio cut in.  
"But if you made some kind of mistake, can't you just make it up to him by working a bit? No one trusts a rookie right off the bat. But you keep your head down and do good work, and they'll come around, eventually. So don't sweat the little mistakes, kay?"

"Hmm. It's hard to imagine Kraz ever seeing things my way. You think Tonnio's right?" She turned her gaze towards me.

I felt like we've had this conversation once before but yeah, he was right."Nah, you're pretty screwed..." is what I wanted to say just to mess with her but since I did agree with him.  
"Absolutely."

"...Well, I suppose YOU still believe me, so that's something." she smiled warmly.  
"Hahaha… yeah." I laughed nervously. I felt a cold shiver travel down my spine. If I was really going to make full use of her power I needed to keep her emotions high all while maintaining a good stance with her... In short, keep her happy, or have her target her negative emotions towards something else.

"That's right. Just keep your head up. The respect will come in time. I give you my guarantee-as a former Guardian instructor, no less." Tonnio replied. Ah, That must have been why I was angry at him. All I really remembered about him was that he was a beastling and we met on Moatoob, I think...

"Huh? You were in the Guardians, Tonnio?" Emilia's face turned still

"I did my time. Don't tell me you wanted to get into the Guardians or something?"

She suddenly began to glare at the boy, er, man... It was awkward. Tonnio looked sort of puzzled… Truthfully, this was sort of fun to watch, I didn't notice I was grinning until Liina broke the silence.

"Enough small talk. I'm guessing with your personal, er, drama, you've forgotten why we're even here, so how about a recap? As you may recall, some of the creatures kept in this facility for testing purposes have escaped. They want us to track down the astarks and take them out."

"What's an astark? Never heard of them." Tonnio asked. Liina pulled out a picture from her communicator and held it out so we could all see.

"It's a new breed from the attack three years back. Seed mutants, from the sound of it."

"Seed…" I trailed off bitterly... I still had no clue what an astark was…

Did something happen that I wasn't aware of? I wondered

"There have been all kinds of new species popping up throughout the system-this is just the latest." She explained. Though I had no idea what she was talking about. "As for the other creatures that escaped, we're supposed to get rid of as many as we can."

"Right. No problem. Look out. I'm a girl with a mission, now!" Emilia said halfheartedly. Though I suppose she was trying to motivate herself. Once we entered the next room we immediately met with a door lit in red.

"Looks like the security level just got bumped up! We need to get the room off lockdown." Emilia said, which I supposed meant that certain areas wouldn't open unless it was sure the area was safe.

"Rose, how's the Tech mag looking? Everything alright?" I spoke into my visor as the others walked towards the locked door.  
"Affirmative, you're set to go, but I advise you not use techniques."

"Right… Meaning you're not actually going to let me use any."

"Correct." She replied as the light emanating from my tech-mag when dim, it was nothing more than a floating ball at the moment I knew exactly why she did it, it was because I was mentally exhausted, and not to mention physically exhausted. If I continued to push myself it would have damaged my mind permanently.

As I disconnected the call several grasshopper-like monsters with shells on their backs came from the ledges above and jumped between me and the rest of the group.

"You're really tying my hands here…" I sighed as I summoned my saber to my hand. "Alright, have it your way."

As the first one approached I swung with a heavy diagonal strike breaking the shell, but as my blade cracked through I felt a tremendous shock travel up my arm but my blade continued to slice through the body pretty easily once it was passed the shell.

I bit my lip tightly and fought through the pain, when the second bug jumped towards me I instinctively kicked it back but the kick didn't seem to do anything besides give some distance between me and that specific bug, meanwhile, a few others continued to move towards me.

"If I could just use my power…" I rose my arm in an attempt to override Rose's limiter with sheer willpower but before I could cast a single technique there was a stream of ice that froze most of the enemies in front of me.

"Cyruss! Get over here!" She shouted as she supported Tonnio and Liina from behind with her techniques.

"Thanks… " I said underneath a forced cough as I stood behind the 3 of them.

They finished them off relatively quickly.  
I was saved once again, that single thought alone was like a weight on my back. The four of us walked together, Tonnio and Liina lead the way and I lagged behind Emilia.

I quickly glanced over at Emilia who walked with her head down. As I stared at Emilia my eyes casually drifted towards the little ball floating beside her.

It looked relatively new and seeing as she didn't bring it out alongside her saber during that fight with that Kasch boy I'd say she got it after that mission.

We walked silently until we reached a diverging path, the one in front of us had a door lit red. The other path was a long hallway. "Rose? Any idea where we should be going?"

"It doesn't really matter, we're going to have to search the entire floor anyway," Tonnio replied as he walked off down the hallway with Liina following behind.

As they walked off Rose sent me a digital map through my visor that had shown me a terminal that we can use to open that door. It was in the previous room we were in a minute ago.

"You can go on ahead. I'll catch u-"

"Where do you think you're going?" She said with narrowed eyes and crossed arms as she blocked my way.

"This door… I want to open it. There's a terminal back in the other room." I calmly explained.

"Fine, let's go" She let out a sigh as she walked past me.

"What about-" When I looked down the hall they had vanished and unlike me, Emilia didn't have a visor or a map that would show her their location…  
It didn't seem she wasn't very well equipped as a mercenary… I blame management.

"It's like you said, we'll catch up with them, now come on." She said as she walked back to the previous room.

Once we got into the room I walked over towards the panel and followed Rose's instructions and after a few keystrokes, we heard the sound of the door unlocking followed by a blinking light on the screen that made a loud beeping sound with every flash.

"It sounds like something's counting down." She said as we looked at the blinking.

"Come on!" I said as I pulled her by the wrist and let go once she started moving her feet. We quickly rushed towards the green lit door and at the last moment we ran through it, the second we passed it the light turned red again.

"We made it…" I panted softly, the moment I said that a dozen of these fuzzy doll looking monsters walked towards us with goofy movements, one of them was spinning towards us while others jumped with a twirl.

"I'll let you handle this…" I replied as I took a step back. Her tech-mag shined brightly as she charged up her attack and in a brief moment a destructive flash filled the room. The blast had taken out most of the monsters and the few remaining sat back and stared at us with terror in their eyes. The second the light turned green the remaining few darted out of the room at breakneck speed. I almost felt bad for them… almost.

We moved on ahead and continued to fight several more monsters but with every step, every swing, every breath, I felt my body getting a little heavier, my vision grew blurrier and my ears began to ring.

We made our way down a long hall and entered a room. Inside were 2 dozen more of those goofy looking monsters that ran off and beside them were these giant stone skinned beats that sort similar in shape to that rhino-like monster from before but didn't look as tough,

I looked at the goofy little guy standing in front of the pack looking up at us with a smug grin as another little monster slammed his fist into his palm with a wicked smile.

I backed away but the door was locked. I heard Emilia's nervous voice but couldn't comprehend a single word all I knew was that we were in serious danger, the power needed to create an explosion to take out a group this size at this range would also hit us but I knew a technique that could stop their charge in their tracks.

I extended my arm with a shaky grip and as I scrounged up as much power as I could. I heard Rose's voice through my visor but like with Emilia, I couldn't really understand what she was saying, but I knew she was against what I was about to do.

Feeling an excruciating pain in my head, a pain that reminded me of that day.

"D-am-me-gid," I said weakly as the enemies charged towards us.

Using my own power I've overridden the limiter and unleashed a large cloud of darkness that increased the gravity of the enemies in front of me. The only drawback of this technique was that it was a DAM grade attack as well as a dark technique both of which use up a large amount of mental power to use, especially when we're stopping a horde this size.

The second I used this power my vision went black and my body was ice cold but I refused to fall unconscious while the enemies still had some fight left in them. When I no longer felt any resistance I released the field and fell.

I found myself once again in darkness, curled up into a ball with my head pounding violently.

I started crying again like I've done so many times before… but suddenly I felt another presence, the pain had begun to fade and in front of me, a pure white figure had quietly offered me a hand.

"W-who are you?" I backed away reluctantly. I felt a sudden chill passed through my body. I began to shake more violently with each step I took back until I fell back onto my hands and knees.

The figure walked closer towards me and my body warmed up stopping me from shaking. They knelt down in front of me and smiled while offering me their hand once more.

"Mi-ka?" I hesitantly took their warm hand but suddenly felt a burning sensation in my chest and pushed the figure away.

"Get out of my head! Get out of my head!" I cried out as loudly as I could.

The figure frowned and turned away with each step they slowly faded away, with each step I began to feel a coldness engulf my body once again.

"Wait!" I tried to get back on my feet but my body felt heavier. I fell flat on my stomach and weakly reached out for the dying light until everything went dark once again.

"Don't… go…" Tears streamed down my cheeks as I lied helplessly on the nonexistent floor. My tears fell down into the endless void.

I opened my eyes and saw that I was lying on my back on top of my jacket. I heard an explosion, I turned my head to see a large insect-like beast standing on two legs with two large arms with 3 steel pincer-like claws on each hand.

Emilia with her tech-mag had fired off a rafoie but the monster blocked it with his bulky arms. I tried to speak but couldn't utter a sound, my entire body felt like it was frozen. How badly did I damage myself? I wondered.

It flailed its arm towards her but she managed to evade it before launching a fireball at it, it hit land on its side but didn't deal any noticeable damage.

That was the mutated seed we were assigned to kill…  
"Seed…" My mind went back to that day. The burning image of a woman entered my mind. I felt a burning sensation fill up my chest and spread throughout my body. Above me was this dark entity connected to me by the aura that surrounded my body.

The darkness was filled with so many emotions that were built up for all those years. Sadness, Anger, Shame, Hatred… All of these emotions being released all at once. I stood up with a dark beast hovering over me.

As if she sensed me Emilia turned towards me but my gaze was locked onto the Astark who took the opportunity to attack her. But before it could I moved in to deflect it's arm moving faster than I thought a force could only hope to move.

Emilia turned back towards me and the monster the moment she realized I was no longer standing there. I tried to strike it with a technique but noticed that the dark aura around me interfered with the connection with my tech-mag, meaning I couldn't use techniques in this state… at least with a tech-mag.

"Emilia! Focus!" I shouted as I began to attack the beast with a flurry of slashes but my blade couldn't even make a scratch on its arms which tightly guarded its core.

I quickly jumped back, when it noticed that the attacks stopped coming it looked up from its arms and the second it did it was surprised to feel an explosion at its feet. Its arms went up leaving the bug's weak-point wide open for a brief moment but a moment was all I needed, with a swift strike of my cold blade I managed to defeat the monster.

Once the battle was over the dark aura around me receded back into my body and the second it did it felt like my clothes just doubled in weight. I found myself out of breath. My partner rushed over to my side as I fell onto the floor.

"What was that?" She asked.

"Honestly... I don't know…" I replied, I had an Idea but wasn't entirely sure what could have triggered such a power.

"Hmm… That thing looked like something similar to what that boy used, what was it called again? A… Mirage blast?" She took a moment to think about. "Well, whatever... We've wasted enough time, and since you're looking better we should get going.."

"Heh, right behind you," I replied as she walked towards the next room. As I knelt over to pick up my jacket I've noticed a little buzzing sound in my ear. I rebooted my visor.

"Rose? You there?"  
"It seems that there was an overload in the system, are you alright?" She asked,

"Yeah, sorry about that. Was it because I forced the limiter open?"

"No, I knew what you were planning so I temporarily lifted the limiter's restrictions, though I wouldn't advise in trying that again unless you absolutely have to."

"You don't have to tell me twice… speaking of which, how long was I out?"

"Approximately, 24 minutes and 44 seconds."

"And did I…? you know…" I whispered.

"You didn't make a sound."

"Phew, that's a relief. Anyway, I'm feeling better so... can I use techniques?"

"I'll need to run a few tests on your limiter."

"Yeah, alright…" I took a deep breath as I continued into the next room but before I was stopped by her voice.

"Cyruss? What did you do?" Her voice sounded oddly human, not only that but it sounded... sad.

"It's called a Mirage blast, I think… I'll tell you more when I get back… I promise."

"Alright." She replied. The line suddenly went silent but the visor was still active.

"Rose…" I muttered before running after my partner.

The halls ahead had fewer enemies and more doors we needed to past through in a limited amount of time while enemies were being attracted to the door's beeping sound. It wasn't too difficult and we've managed to clear out a large portion of the first floor while we were at it.

Suddenly we heard a loud roar down the hall followed by gunfire.

"Come on," Emilia said as she darted down the hall with her staff out. I quickly chased after her. We ran into a large spacious room and in the center was an even larger astark than the one we fought before.

"Where have you been?!" Tonnio said as we ran up to them.

"That can wait! Right now, we have to focus on what's in front of us!" I replied.

The Astark let out a menacing roar, in its breath I've smelled a hint of a familiar substance. "Move!" I cried. As a dark cloud spewed from its mouth I pushed Emilia out of the way. Tonnio and Liina were able to react and move much quicker than Emilia so I didn't really worry about them.

Its breath was poisonous and could deal quite a bit of damage just by making contact with our skin unless you're someone who had been exposed to it before and had built up a stronger resistance.

Though resistance didn't mean I was immune, my head felt lighter the longer I stayed within the cloud. Thanks to the thick smoke I couldn't tell if the others had successfully made it out. I heard the monster's quick and heavy footsteps coming towards me but couldn't I couldn't quite tell how far away it was.

Suddenly the beast thrust it's arm through the cloud, I barely managed to dodge the first strike but the second one had come at me from the side knocking me out of the large cloud. As the hit made its impact I let out a gasp.

My body rolled along the ground like a rag doll, I looked up but couldn't see anything within the cloud of poison. Emilia should have been out of the range but I couldn't see her anywhere. My insides felt like they were about to self-destruct when some of the poison entered my mouth.

I tried to cure myself with a technique but my tech-mag didn't respond.

"Rose?" I tried to speak into my visor but there was no response, I tried to call Emilia but it seemed that my visor's communicator was also shut down.

I've heard the faint sounds of gunfire and voices outside of the smoke but they became less comprehensible the more the poison spread throughout my body.

I pulled out a Sol Atomizer from my coat and quickly drank it before the poison could do any real damage. This enemy had successfully separated us and concealed itself within the dark smoke. There was also nothing stopping it from continuously launching another poisonous cloud before this one died down and taking us out one by one.

I couldn't talk with my team, I couldn't use techniques, and running in with my saber was just plain stupid. I couldn't do anything.

But while I was trying to come up with a plan there was an explosion in the center of the cloud that spread it all over the room but the more it expanded the thinner it was making the poison less effective. We were still unable to see much beyond some vague looking silhouettes, the most noticeable one was the astark but I saw two small figures across the room and at the wall adjacent to them was another figure that could only be Emilia who fell to the ground not long after the explosion.

"You idiot…" Though the poison's effect was weaker it would still be dangerous to the touch, let alone if you breathe it in.

The situation didn't look much better but to my surprise, one of the figures had stood up and jumped on the Astark's back with a dagger in hand as if unaffected by the poisonous cloud.

The cloud died down as the beast let out a painful cry. Tonnio continued to strike it fiercely with his danger, his mouth was covered with the red scarf he wore around his neck. Since he was more experienced than me it wouldn't be a huge surprise if he had also developed a stronger immunity, or perhaps he was simply powering through, I couldn't say either way.

I slowly made my way to Emilia with a Sol Atomizer in hand.

"Hey? You doing alright?" As I knelt next to my unconscious partner. She let out a sluggish groan.

"That's nice, but we have to get moving so drink this…" I replied with a condescending tone knowing she likely wouldn't hear it.

"Good, you're awake," I said as she opened her eyes.

"What?" She sat up on her own with her hands pressed up against the side of her head.

I stood back up and turned towards the fight between Tonnio and the big guy, the little guy didn't light up, each strike hit fast and hard. The monster couldn't find the time to block let alone release another cloud from its mouth.

After securing her safety there was no reason not to join the fight. Despite the beating, it was taking it didn't seem to want to give up and Tonnio looked as if he was almost at his limit.

Without its advantage defeating it should not have been an issue especially considering that we were now fighting together.

"He doesn't know when to give up…" Tonnio he fell to one knee. Emilia and I rushed over to its side but the second it saw that we were regrouping it readied another poison attack but before it could Liina shot it just below its mouth with a charged shot with her gun.

This was our chance to end the beast or at the very least land a major blow, but I had to think and decide what to do within this crucial second.

With only one second to work with, I went in to strike its core with a photon art core with a flurry of slashes using a photon art, allowing my blade's effect to take effect on its body.

"Blast it!" I shouted a few slashes before my assault was finished.

Using a tech-mag Emilia charged up her blast fairly quickly once I was finished I tried my best to jump out of the way but much to my surprise, the astark managed to break the ice's hold over it. It flailed its arm towards me.

Emilia fired the blast pushing the monster away before it could land a direct hit but its claws managed to leave a big gash on my face.

I rolled along the floor and buried my face into my hands, there was no pain initially rather it was something that gradually grew more painful. My hands were caked in my blood, I immediately reached into my jacket for a healing item.

I turned towards the others as they continued to fight the astark, even Tonnio got back up to lend them a hand, but this beast was monstrous, I couldn't understand why it was so determined to fight despite the number of blows had taken.

"-System online-" A computery noise buzzed in my ear.

"Cyruss? You're bleeding!" Rose said.

"That doesn't matter right now- Can I use it now?!"

"Affirmative."

"Resta." called out as a white light briefly enveloped me.

I got back up with my right hand covering my face and I snapped my fingers. 3 large fireballs simultaneously shot out of my tech-mag 2 of the balls curved as the 3rd went straight for him, the 3rd was blocked by its arms while the other 2 hit him from both sides setting it on fire.

The monster's cries were almost painful to listen to. I knew it was just another seed though I felt like I was somehow connected to it as my flames torched it alive. I felt a single tear stream down my check passing over my wound. My check began to sting slightly.

Still, I held no sympathy for a monster, let alone a seed.

"Rest in peace… you abomination." I bit my lip as I snapped my fingers once again. A large explosion gave it a quick, death. I would have said quick and painless but the fact it was burning alive would negate that.

I used way more power than I should have. My mind felt like I've taken a hammer to the head with each snap but as I said before, enduring pain like that was second nature, just another part of the job.

When fighting the seed, I don't really make the effort to hold myself back. Whenever I see one I just have this urge to destroy it.

The others came up to me.

"Nice work- Uh? I don't think I've actually caught your name." Tonnio said as he scratched behind his head. I know I got their partner card but I don't think I've given mine to anyone other than Emilia.

"Just… call me Sai." I replied

"Sai?" Emilia raised a brow.

"Are you doing okay?" She asked.

"If you're talking about the cut, then it's nothing. Would have been a whole lot worse if you hadn't saved me again… Thanks for that by the way."

"Sai? If you could do that why didn't you do it at the start?" Liina asked.

"The techniques? Long story short, my tech-mag was going through some… maintenance… and besides techs that powerful take a lot out of me." I replied.

"Guys? We've beat all of them, right?" Emilia asked.  
"So, why is the alarm still sounding?" The strange thing is I didn't even notice the alarm until she pointed it out.

As if on cue a man entered to room and ran over to us, I assumed he's heard the fighting. He appeared to be a scientist who worked in the building. "You're the folks from Little wing? We've been waiting for you!"

"Waiting? As you can see, we've just finished our job. Monsters, dead." I pointed towards the dead Astark with my left hand.

"Well, we had some synthetics out to put the escapees down, and now the synths have gone haywire…"

"Have you tried turning them off and on…" I asked sarcastically.

"Synthetics on the rampage? How'd that happen?" Tonnio asked,

"Well, to be honest. We have no idea. Though we're looking into it, believe me." He said with a pitiful looking expression.

"What kind of synths are we talking about here?" Emilia asked much to my surprise.

"Well, mostly GRM-made multipedes, and some swarmers. Ah, and a handful of grinna betes as well." He replied but I didn't understand any of what he said.

"All those different types going haywire at the same time? Did they have a leader? Something bigger than a grinna bete?" She asked.

"Er, yes, actually. We were actually testing a new elite model, the Reol Badia."

"Well, there's your culprit. My guess is that Reol's got a borked command circuit. If it's sending out confused signals, that could cause enough for your haywire synthetics. " She said.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that?!" I sighed in disappointment when he said that. I'm no tech genius or anything but even I would have thought to check the thing in charge of commanding these goddamn machines. These guys were supposed to be geniuses, men of science, and they couldn't solve that little piece of math.

It would make sense if the 4 of us couldn't figure it out since as far as I know they know anything about any this stuff, but this man knew these things had a leader and never thought once it could have been the cause.

And he just got outshined by a girl old enough to be in high school.

Tonnio glanced over at Emilia.  
"You've got a funny way of figuring things out like that. Like with the Kasch markings. That some talent of yours?"

"Let's worry about the job at hand first, shall we? We gotta take out that Reol Badia before the synths do more damage!" She replied.

"Right, sure… Except we need permission before we go any further inside the facility."

"Oh, of course! You have my full clearance." He sounded somewhat relieved. "The synths are frightfully close to our labs where we're working on our subspace generator."

"You're working on a subspace generator on a lower level, here?" I didn't like the look in her eye when she said that.

"Please, don't try anything stupid." I thought.

"If it weren't so vital we would have abandoned the lab at the first sign of trouble." The man turned towards me about to say something but looked into my eye glaring through a bloody hand and quickly turned back towards Emilia.

"I'm extending your clearance beyond this point until the matter is resolved… you will help us with the synths, yes?"

"That's not in our contract." I pointed out with a gruffer voice.

"What?! Wait a second!" Emilia pulled me away by the left arm.  
"Sure, we could refuse him," she whispered.  
"But you've heard what's below us! A subspace generator!" Her whispers were so loud I was certain they heard us.

"This could be our chance to… to check things out! There's bound to be some good info down there."

I was going to point out that if we let the synths destroy the generator we wouldn't have to worry too much about gathering info… but before I could respond she turned towards the others.

"We're on the job!" She shouted with a hand up in the air as she marched towards them.

"Idiot…" I muttered under my hand.

"Thank you so much! If what you said is true, stopping the Reol Badia should be enough to stop the other synthetics!"

"Let's go, guys!" Emilia leads Liina and Tonnio deeper into the facility and I begrudgingly followed them.


	9. 3rd Universe: Hope by Design 2

Before we went down to the lower floor I found a restroom to wash my face, in the mirror I saw two large and twisted scars across my face.  
My visor was resting by the sink.

"Great…" I muttered to myself, the Monomate and my technique did a great job at closing the wound, I just wished it could have prevented the mark on my face.

"Did you forget your shield-weave?" Rose asked from my visor that was left beside the sink.

"Like I'd forget something like that…" I scoffed as I glared at myself in the mirror.  
"Dammit…. Dammit!" I shouted as I punched the wall.

I pulled out a pair of goggles, I was never comfortable wearing this thing and hated that I would wear it just to hide a scar. The Blue tinted screen that covered my line of sight made me feel like a robot. The device was worn like a mask over my eyes with a blue screen set with its brightness as high as possible to prevent anyone from seeing through it.

I kept my visor attached to the goggles by a small bit of thread to keep in contact with Rose and to keep my limiter functional.

I stepped out of the restroom and wandered back down the hall where my allies waited standing by the elevator that led down to the lower floors.  
They silently stared at me with a surprised expression.  
"What?" I asked with a stern expression.

"How are you doing?" Liina asked.

"It's just a minor injury. sorry, I got a little reckless, I'm still new to fighting with a saber." I explained. Tonnio raised a brow.

"Come on, we've still got those synths to clear up." He said. we all entered the elevator.

Once we've reached the lower floor we were met with an octagonal shared hall with these large see-through pipes that stood vertically on each side of the hall. They were filled with some glowing green substance, for all, I knew they could have simply been lights.

As we've left the elevator Mika abruptly popped out of Emilia.

"So, this is where they seek to delve into the secrets of subspace." I'm not sure if she was genuinely fascinated or if it was something else. Seeing as the ancients had been more advanced than we are, she could have very well been patronizing us.

"Mika, wait," Emilia said immediately catching her attention.  
"Can you be careful about when you choose to show up? I don't want Tonnio and Liina to get the wrong idea."

"Yeah, I really don't wanna repeat what happened in my room." I rubbed my neck.

"Of course, absolutely," Mika replied.

"Right, thanks." She said before turning towards me with a serious look on her face.

"Okay, moral dilemma: we could destroy the subspace generator now and solve this problem once and for all."

"Goddammit, Emilia!" I screamed in my head, we wouldn't have to destroy it ourselves if we just let the synths destroy it, but since she's accepted the job we have to destroy the synths or else-  
"Kraz won't be happy."

"Yeah… I know. Him and everyone else in the system. We'd be enemies of the state everywhere we went."

For a second I pondered the idea of destroying the generator and using it as a way to break our agreement, Gurhal would be saved from the Ancient threat and I would go back into hiding, Emilia would be on her own, on the run…  
But I thought about it again, I'd also be on my own. Or I'd be stuck with Emilia…Those were 2 outcomes I'd rather avoid.

"There has to be another way!" She said once again tearing me away from my thoughts,

"Though, it's hard to hold me back when the solution's right there staring me in the face."

"Nope! No! We're not doing that!" No matter what this plan would end badly for the two of us.

"I know!" She replied.

"Don't be overly anxious" Mika stepped between us.

"There are immeasurable subspaces in the universe. The chances that the one they create here will reach Maghara, where the Ancients reside, are infinitesimally small." She explained.

"Meaning, It would be pointless to destroy the generator... I think.." I said relieved to hear that.

"Really? Oh. Okay. Guess we can leave it be, then." said Emilia.

"Of course, should all the keys be brought together, it is a different matter entirely."

"Huh? What keys?" Emilia asked but before she could explain Tonnio shouted at us from down the hall. "Hey, what are you mumbling about? Hurry up or we're leaving you behind!"

"Er, right! Sorry Coming!" Emilia ran back towards the others leaving me wondering what's the deal with these keys. I shook my head and ran after them.

As we ran into this spacious area we quickly caught the attention of these drones with rapidly flapping wings making them look more like robotic bugs with giant guns strapped onto them.

"Get to the door! We've gotta get out of the open!" I shouted, as I fired a Rafoie at them but only managed to hit a couple while the others were quick to predict the path of my technique. They began to retaliate by shooting back at us as we ran towards the door.

The second we entered the door we tripped some kind of trap and this large machine with an electric field in the came quickly moving towards to push us back towards the bugs.

"Shite…" I cursed as I tried to blast it with an explosion but my attack had no effect.

"Move!" Tonnio said. Each of us jumped on the side of the octagon hall and hung behind the glass pipes avoiding the trap. Once the door closed the drones had no way of getting to us.

"Phew, That was too close," Emilia said as she knelt down on the floor. Frankly, I was glad we just had to take out their leader and not every single synth.  
The ancients could have risen up and we'd still be fighting these machines if that were the case.

When we entered the next room we were met with several of these other sentries along with a ton of those sentries who flew over from the previous room.  
Turns out those two rooms were just one huge room with a hall in the center.

"Liina! Em! Take out the drones from the hall! Tonnio cover them!" I ordered as I charged forward.

Tonnio and I fended off the rest of the sentries as Liina and Emilia defeated the drones firing at us from overhead while we provided a sort of distraction.

When that was over we moved on ahead, deeper into the facility.

The start to sector two was weird. When we've arrived we saw this staircase leading down and below was a large pool of water.

"Cy-"

"No, I can't freeze the water." I interrupted my partner. Techniques weren't quite enough to freeze a large body of water such as this, at least mine weren't.

"Well, do you have a better idea?" She scowled.

"This water had to have come from somewhere, maybe there's a control panel or something to drain it," Liina replied.

"Rose? Can you find anything like that?"

"Affirmative, sending it to your visor."

"huh? Can you send it to my goggles?" I asked.

"It may take one moment to sync it up the two devices up."

"Just do it, we'll-" When I turned around several more synths had come from the door behind us.

"-We'll be busy…"

It took a minute of fighting but she managed to sync up the devices, all that was left to secure the area and locate the terminal.

"That's the last of them…" I panted as I leaned against the wall, the terminal appeared as a blinking marker on my digital map.

"I'll go hit the switch." I've followed the map while the others waited below the staircase. I've pressed what I was told to, much to my surprise the surface of the water froze over creating, the room had also grown a lot colder with the A/C getting activated.

"Who the heck designed this place?" I remarked as I stared at the floor of ice below us.  
"Cyruss? There's a little problem."

"Hmm? What is it?"

When they entered the icy field they found themselves trapped by a laser fence blocking the two staircases out of there, while releasing several monsters onto the floor. Most of which were Pal Sharks, and a couple of bigger monsters that I didn't recognize.

"Seriously, I hate the guy who designed this place…" I trailed off as I ran to aid them but before I could, several drones appeared to block my way.  
As they fired their weapons I ducked behind the terminal.

"Cyruss! If the terminal get's damaged the room will revert back to its original temperature…" And they'd literally be swimming with sharks.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" I shouted as I rolled out of my cover to avoid damaging the terminal, quickly launching a fireball towards them but they quickly moved out of the way. They continued to move towards my side in an attempt to flank me.

In this space blasting them with an explosion would be the easiest thing to do but I couldn't risk damaging the terminal.

"What about the fence? Can we shut that down?" I asked as I continued to narrowly dodge bullets from two different directions, luckily each drone shot one at a time at a slow pace, I would assume that would mean they were more powerful but I didn't wanna find out.

"Not until all of the monsters below have been neutralized." She replied.

"Damn, Alright… I'm open to suggestions-"

"Huh?" I heard a sudden voice through my goggles.

"Emilia?" I almost forgot about my communicator.

"Hello Emilia, my name is Rose-" She explained out situation up on the platform.

"So, you're surrounded and you need to defend the terminal or we'll fall into the water." She summarized.  
"Why don't you just defeat them?"

"Oh! Why didn't I think of that?! I sure feel stupid now?!" I replied sarcastically as I struggled to fend off the mechanical bugs but they've managed to avoid each technique I threw.

"We're kind of dealing with our own issue if you can't see!" She replied as I hear gunshots and explosions from the floor below.

"Speaking of which, I told you guys to wait for me! So what happened there?!" I asked.

"Eh? N-Never mind that! Just force your way out of there! It's not like they've got a reason to shoot the terminal, right? Once you're far enough you can use whatever technique you want, right?" The second she said that I went silent…  
"You feeling stupid yet?" She said in a snide tone before I cut out our communication.

In my defence some of the enemies I've faced actively attacked important things such as this terminal.  
"Ahem, Rose? Did you think of that?" I asked.

"I- I was simply telling you that the terminal would take damage if you hid behind it."

I decided to drop it and launch a few fireballs at them so they'd move out of the way, once they did that I dashed past them and like Emilia said they've come running after me.

Once we were out in the open I've begun to use techniques that had a wider range so they wouldn't be able to simply avoid it.  
Once that was done I ran down the staircase where they've finished off the last of the sharks.

"Hey, I've heard you've had some trouble too," Tonnio said with a smirk as I walked up to them.

"Let's just keep moving…" I walked passed them not wanting to get into it.

We went deeper into the facility facing these actual mechanical bugs who grouped up as a swarm, fought some large robots, and avoided more sweepers by sidestepping around it until we've reached the final room. A large round room with a glass dome-shaped ceiling, from the windows above, it looked as if we were below sea level.

As we've entered the room the door behind us as usual and we've heard this large metallic noise echo throughout the room.

"What was that?" Emilia looked around the room.

"Here it comes! Everyone stay sharp!" Tonnio said as a giant robot fell from the ceiling, the robot had a sort of saucer-shaped body that stood on 4 long tentacle-like legs that came out from the upper side of its edges.

The robot stared down at us with a large cannon, the cannon shined brightly as it charged up its blast.

I turned towards Emilia who tried to look serious but was clearly afraid of this machine.

"Move!" I shouted.

Emilia shook her head and jumped out of the way as the machine fired its laser cannon.  
"Emilia." I tried to say in a clear voice causing her to twitch slightly.  
"Huh?"  
"It's okay to be afraid, but you can't stop moving. If you stop-"

"I know! but that thing… it's huge! how are we supposed to take down THAT?!"

"Take out its support! Go for the legs!" Tonnio said as he and Liina ran over to us.

"Tonnio's right! Focus our fire on one leg at a time!" Linna said.

"Sounds good." I agreed, not seeing any other way.

"Okay, I'll try!" Emilia replied.

I've played a sort of support role for this battle, by using techniques to boost their power and defences as well as speed.  
Other than that I've basically thrown large rocks at the enemy since it's attribute was electricity according to my goggles while they attacked with their melee weapons. I've been a little iffy about using my sword against an enemy like this after what happened with the astark but the techniques did, in fact, take a bit out of me, and my mental regeneration time wasn't what it use to be.

Unless… I remembered the power I've used before.

"The darkness…" I've muttered with a malicious grin.  
I've tried to release all that hatred from before on this one enemy by thinking of the one person I hate the most but… all that really managed to do was piss me off.  
"Why? Why won't it work?!" I slowly began to lose my cool, as I tried to summon the power. I didn't notice the enemy had set its sight on me.  
It charged up its cannon but before It could fire.  
"Cyruss! Move!" Rose's voice screeched into my eat and I quickly moved out of the way.

"Sorry," I muttered apologetically.

"You don't have to apologize. Just be careful." She replied before going silent once more.

After a while, the leg fell and the machine toppled over revealing its core underneath the body, the core was a cylinder with a bright light inside. I didn't have much power left for my techniques but I figured there was something I could do to help them out.I used ice techniques to bind it's leg to the floor, knowing it could break out of it like the astark but all I really needed was to buy them some time to destroy the core. I froze its leg but when I couldn't use any more techniques I ran in and repeatedly stuck it with my blade hoping its effect would be enough.

That was when I heard a loud crashing sound from the other side of the machine as sparks began to fly out of it before falling over ultimately shutting down.

"Whew, I can't believe we did it." Emilia sighed in relief.

"Looks like we did it, the alarms silent," Tonnio said and like before I had completely forgotten about it. "And you've pulled your own weight Emilia, I'm impressed. I think you've gotten you're groove back."

"Really? What do you think?" She asked as she turned to me. Not really seeing most of what happened during the fight I couldn't really say for sure what he was referring too unless he was talking about how she proved how absent minded a scientist can be.

"R-Real Groovy," I replied not knowing what else to say.  
"God, that is something I've never wanted to say in my entire life but seriously, why does it matter what I think?" I thought with a nervous sweat.

"Thanks! It's good to hear coming from you." She smiled warmly.  
"Don't worry, I know I've still got a long way to go."

Though I didn't know what I was praising she seemed happy so I guess I've said the right thing.  
And I was glad to see she wasn't letting it get to her head.

"Hmm? Someone's coming." Liina said as we all turned towards the older gentleman approaching us.  
"Haven't I seen him on the news?"

I didn't pay too much attention to the news and I was behind on my current events by about 3 years.

"You're all from Little Wing, right? I'd like to thank you all personally. We've confirmed that all the synthetics are back under our control." He said in a deep voice.

"Well, thank you kindly… err, strange ol-" but before I could finish Rose sent me a little information on the guy, and apparently he was the head of the Inhelt Corporation. "I-I mean, Natsume Shu!" Should I be calling him by his full name like that? Should I have said Natsume? Would that be too casual? What about Shu? As I pondered these questions the others began to speak.

"Natsume Shu! You're the head of the Inhelt Corporation, aren't you?" Liina said.

"That's correct. Pleased to make your acquaintance," he replied.

"Gotta say, I'm a bit surprised the pres came out to thank us personally," Tonnio said.

"You do understand that what we do here in this facility is of vital importance. We are the Gurhal system's last hope." Judging by the scientist we've met on the way here, I wasn't holding my breath they'd save us.

"If any harm had come to the subspace generator here, Our subspace research might have been critically delayed. You've done us a tremendous service," he said.

"Really, it's okay. We were just doing our job." The girl who plotted to destroy it replied as she calmed her self down. "I'm just shocked that you're doing the subspace research here, on company grounds. With all the attention it's been getting I would've guessed you'd have picked a more, well, remote location."

"I'm just shocked you'd build a generator in the same place you store your monsters." I thought and chose not to say.

"We have taken unprecedented security measures." He said. I tried my best to hold in my laughter. "...which of course turned against us this time."

"I'm not too clear on all this subspace stuff. What exactly is it you're doing?" Tonnio asked.

"We have been collecting artifacts gathered from Relic sites here. Artifacts from the time of the ancients." He explained. This sounded like important information so I stored the data away in my goggles."To be frank, the ancients beat us to the secrets of subspace travel a long ago. Thus the secret of subspace is, as a practical matter, a study of the ancient civilization and it's technology."

"uh, are you sure it's okay to tell us all of this? It sounds kind of important." Emilia asked.

"Of course." The old man laughed. "All of this is public knowledge."

"You're kidding?" I rubbed my nose.

"Our people are strong, strong enough to repel the Seed invasion. But if we do not face our dwindling resource problem, our children will suffer for it." He said.

"No kidding, things are already getting tight," Tonnio sighed. "I guess I can see why you'd want to protect what you're doing here. Thanks for the update pres. Hope your research does what it's supposed to."

Me too… for a different reason.

"Alright, time to move Little Wing. Emilia, you too." Liina said.

"Er.. right." with that said we all made our way out of that place.  
but as I left I felt a slight but familiar chill.


	10. 3-4

It was another quiet ride back home, on the way I had contacted Rose about changing our information on the paperwork to change my name to Sai.  
Kraz didn't find any ID on me and I didn't recall giving him my name so I didn't worry too much about convincing him that this was always my name.

Making Emilia the only one who actually knew "Cyruss", at this time.

"Welcome back!" I heard Chelsea's voice from behind me from the communicator.

"Monsieur Boss awaits in his office. There is a request tres special for you and Emilia." I couldn't see her hologram from where I was sitting but I think it was safe to say she was smiling with her hands together as usual.  
With that said she closed the connection.

"Urk? What did I do this time?" Emilia said with a worried expression.  
We went down to the office to meet with Kraz once more.

"Um, Boss?" Emilia said as she entered the room.

"Ah, there you are!" He said with a big smile on his face.  
I'm not sure but this might be the first time I've seen him smile... for a good reason at least.

"Er, we finished that job at Inhelt…" Emilia reported, timidly tried to avoid eye contact.

"Did you ever! I just heard from them, y'know. Sounds like you were quite the team player, Emilia." Emilia's eyes widened

"No! Not at all… I mean… I was?"

"They singled you out as the one who figured out how to stop the rampaging synths. I'd say that's a job well done." He praised.

"Are you sure?" Emilia asked halfheartedly.

"Kid, I've been in this business long enough to see plenty of _mistaken_ damage claims. But I've never seen a mistaken gratitude. So stick out yer chest- or what passed for yer chest-and be proud for a change." I let out a chuckle at that little comment.

"Hey! Wait…What…? You mean, you didn't call me in here to yell at me?"

"Now why would I do that? You do your work like you're supposed to, you won't get any trouble from me." He replied as he dug into his coat.  
"Come here. I got something for ya."

"Something… like what?" Emilia walked towards his desk.

"A bonus, what do you think?" Kraz handed her a white envelope.

"Oh, Uh, okay." She seemed absolutely dumbfounded.

"Good work."

"Thanks."

"I'm serious, you did a fine job, The client even slipped me a little extra for my overhead. That being my bar tab! Woohooo! Tonight I bathe in beer!  
I expect the lot of you to kick back a bit. You deserve it." With that said he left the room happier than I've ever seen him.

"Did you hear what the Boss just said when he offered me that bonus?"

I only found two noteworthy things he said…  
"I bathe in beer." and "You did a fine job."  
I assumed the latter would be the right answer…

"Can you believe it?! I mean, if I'm not mistaken, he was actually congratulating me on a job well done! Since when has that ever happened?" She said barely containing her joy.

"Are you even listening to me?! I got a congratulation! From the boss!" She cheered as if announcing it to the world.  
I couldn't help but feel a little happy for her.

"Congrats," I smirked.

"Thanks! Hee Hee! Guess that hard work paid off! And it's all thanks to you!

"What? Me?" I would hardly say that when I've barely done anything since joining Little wing.

"Awh. Now I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy."She said before she ran off to do her own thing.  
With a smile, I've decided to finally get some shut-eye, before we get sent out again. Good work usually leads to more work.

Once I've entered my room once again I've noticed Rose standing in front of the door.  
In her hands was a little box poorly wrapped in a brown paper that sort of looked like it could have been a paper bag.  
She held it up to me.

"What's this?" I asked as I knelt down and took the box from her hand.

"Open it." She smiled with her hands behind her back.  
I carefully removed the wrapping to not damage the paper.

When I finally got through it was a box of candy, these little green balls.  
We couldn't get these where we were hiding so it had been years since I've had them, these were my favourite thing were my favourite snack.

"I've asked the Cafe about them, so now you can by more there."

"Thank you, Rose." I've said as I gently patted her on the head as I lowered the brightness on my goggles.

If I had to describe the taste I would say it has this really strong sour taste, but if you can power through it there's this indescribable sweetness, though many eat these for the sweet part alone or just to challenge the sour flavour, I've always been a fan of both sides of this treat despite not being very popular with other kids when I was growing up.

I took a nap on my bed forgetting about everything around me, but that was when the darkness slipped into my consciousness.

 _I sat alone in a monochrome room._

 _I couldn't feel anything at all._

 _Across from me was a figure of pure darkness silently staring at me with a smile on his face._

 _There were 3 grey scars, one on his chest and 2 across his face._

 _I felt nothing for the figure of darkness, nothing at all._

 _I thought it was comfortable, there was no reason to feel sadness or anger._

 _No reason to fight at all._

 _Was this true peace? I wondered as I stared at the figure._

 _A world of Darkness_

 _I knew I was screaming in reality._

 _It was as if my mind and my body were separate entities entirely.  
_ _If that were the case where would my heart reside?_

 _Currently, my body was screaming in agony as the darkness consumed my mind.  
_ _But my mind itself felt nothing at all._

 _Which is worse? Pain or Emptiness? I wondered._

 _"What if the world get's destroyed? Why does it matter to us?"_

 _"What has it ever done for us?"_

 _"Why are you fighting?"_

 _"Who are you?" I asked._

 _But there was no response._

 _"What do you want?" I asked._

 _But no response._

 _"What are you?" I asked._

 _No response._

 _Suddenly the figure started to laugh._

 _I've realized I haven't answered his questions either._

 _But as much as I searched through my mind I couldn't find a single answer._

 _I looked into my memories but most of the images I've seen were all static._

 _I continued to search but found nothing._

I woke up covered in cold sweat.

I looked around the room and saw Rose sitting in sleep mode on a chair beside my bed. She hunched over like a lifeless doll as she simulated breathing sounds. In her hand was the box of candies from before.

I was reminded that I still had something to fight for, the one who stayed with me since I've become a Guardian.

After I've washed up I've put on a new set of clothes and walked out of the room with the box of candies kept close and within reach. When I've entered the main hall of Little Wing I've seen Emilia wandering around with a smile on her face as if she were having the time of her life.  
In her hands were several bags.

According to the digital clock on my goggles, it had only been a couple of hours since I've fallen asleep.  
"That kid…" I've heard a voice behind me.

It was that Cast I've met in the Relic site, Vasque.  
"Emilia, was it?" he asked.

"Yeah, That's it," I replied.

"She's really taken to you, looks like. And sounds like she knows where she's headed."

"You don't say…" I yawned apathetically.

"You can tell the difference just by looking at her. There's a sparkle in her eyes that wasn't there before. I don't know what it is you did, but you did good," He said before walking away.

I didn't know what he was talking about, she was happier but that was just because she got a bonus, the mission.  
To me, she was the same as she was when we've met in the ruins.

I've had some time to kill just didn't have a clue what I should do. I could have gone on a shopping spree like Emilia but I've only had so much money.  
Though I figured I should at least update my shield-weave since the one I currently had seemed to be sort of "Out-dated".

I entered the battle shop and scanned around to see what might be the most effective, though admittedly I've seen a whole lot of numbers and symbols that I didn't know anything about, except for the elemental icons. But I figured that the bigger the numbers the more I'd get out of it, and some of these numbers were much larger than what I've currently had on at the time.

"Hmm, How about that one!" I said with a slight grin.

"And would you also like a module to go with that?" The fancily dressed man across the counter asked.

"Huh? A Module?" I must have sounded like a clueless rookie, even if I use to be a guardian.  
Technology was always something I've found difficult to understand.

"Modules are sort of like enhancements for Shield-weaves." I heard a cheerful voice behind me.

"Hey, Naia!" The shopkeeper leaned forward on the desk.

"And you are?" I turned to the girl behind me.

"My friends call me Naia. And so can you!" She said as she gingerly walked to me.

"Sai…"

"Nice to meetcha. You're new to Little Wing, and you probably have oodles of things you need to know. Am I right or am I right?"

"...Okay, I do not care for you." I muttered.

"Lucky for you I'm a people person who just loves to lend a helping hand. Ask me anything, and I'll tell you all I can. You know what they say: A good deed a day keeps the frownies away!"

"I have literally never heard anyone say that about anything in my life."

"So, what is it you want to hear about?!" Her positive nature and cheerful attitude were suffocating, I was slightly glad I was put together with Emilia and not this girl.

"You were saying something about modules?" The shopkeeper said with a smug grin.

"Oh! Right! Modules enhance your Shield-weave-"

"You've already said that, can you move on ahead?" I sighed.

"Right! Well, Modules don't do anything on their own. Goodness no. You have to link a module to a shield-weave and equip the shield weave.  
Linking modules can be a little tricky, so listen up! " She continued to give me a long explanation on how to use modules, in excruciating detail.

"And that's how to link modules to Shield-weave. Give it a try or three. And I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time."

"I see…"

"One. More. Thing. A single module can only be linked to six shield-weaves at once. Let's suppose you have a module that raises your attack power. You can link that one module to any six shield-weaves you're carrying. With only a few expectations, you can even like more than one of the same module to a single shield-weave!"

This part actually seemed sort of remotely useful.

"For a shield-weave with four slots, you could link four of the same modules for four times the effect! Dropping, destroying, or placing a module or shield-weave in a storage will remove any links between that item and any other. So be extra careful when storing your stuff."

"Thanks, Naia, you were VERY helpful. Wasn't she? Sai?" The armour shop grinned.

"Yeah, very... insightful" I sighed.

"If you need anything else don't be afraid to ask! Oh, and be sure to by a lot of things! We wouldn't want you getting hurt out there!" She said as she walked away.

"So, what will it be?" He asked.

"The last hour of my life back…"

"Sorry, we don't seem to have that in stock. How about a module?"

I took another look at the modules and noticed one that said "Mirage Module" and asked about it.

"Those allow the more 'experienced' mercenaries to use those mirage blast thingies, those may be a little too much for you."

So it was like the discs, for learning techniques, except for mirage blasts.  
"Is it possible to use those without a module?"I asked.

"Perhaps, but you'd have to find someone from the Kasch tribe too teach you and I hear they hate outsiders…"

As faith would have it, it was at that moment Chelsea called me over to the office regarding a certain tribal boy.  
"On my way." I paid for my new shield-weave and left. I still wasn't a huge fan of the idea of using enhancers to boost my performance,  
mostly because I believed machines were tools and lacked any sort of heart or soul, using a tech-mag over a staff was already stretching my beliefs.

Emilia and I arrived at the office around the same time.

"Allo, you two! Over here!" Chelsea called us over.

"Hnn?" The boy immediately turned hostile at the sight of us.

"Hey, you're awake!" said Emilia as she approached the boy.

"What-? You!"  
I aimed my tech-mag at the boy as he glared at us.

"No, no, there's nothing to fear. We are helping you, no?" Chelsea tried to calm him down, She and Emilia turned towards me as I put away my weapon.  
"If we were enemies, we would not, no?"

"No… I mean, yes. I think." The boy replied. I was glad to see I wasn't the only one confused by her way of talking.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt?" Emilia asked.

"Oh, the name's Emilia, by the way. What's yours?"

"Yut... Yut Jun Yunkers." He seemed to have calmed down,

"Yut? That's a neat name. You hungry, Yut?" She asked.

"A little… yes." He sounded like a lost child.

"Then let's hit the cafe for something tasty! And I'm in a particularly good mood today. So you're in luck. It's on me!"

"Something tasty… yes. I would like that."

"Then let's go!"

"You seem very excitable, mademoiselle Emilia. I must ask, pour quoi?" Chelsea asked… I think.

"Kraz complimented her…" I replied.

"Vraiment?! It is true?!" It was kinda sad how big a shock this was to everyone involved.  
"Monsieur Boss praising Emilia… Alors! What is this world coming to?"

"Hey! C'mon, you two! Cafe time!" Emilia said.

Yut, Emilia and I went down to the cafe, Emilia ordered some food for Yut while I sat on the other side of the table eating my candies.  
"Oh, this IS good! This is very good! Emilia! What is this?!" Yut asked.

"Yummy, right? The pudding here's the BEST." She said.

"All of this food. I've never eaten so much in my life!"

I watched the two of them with a smile on my face, it sort of reminded me of back then, but I tried not to ruin this moment by lingering on the past… tried.

"I'm glad you like it. Eat as much as you like, okay? It's the least I can do for you." She said as she took a sip of juice from her glass.

"Since you were the one who blew him up…" I wanted to say but, again, I didn't wanna ruin the moment.

"You're okay, Emilia," Yut replied.

"Hmm, now I feel like I'm bribing you somehow… Hey, why didn't I think of that before?! Hang on a second Yut, I'll be right back." Emilia ran out leaving me and the boy alone.

"What are you eating?" He asked.  
"Uh, you want some?" I gave him a single piece.  
The second he put it in his mouth his face scrunched up before he coughed up the candy.  
"That... tasted terrible."

That was pretty much the reaction I've expected.

"Back!" Emilia came up to our table carrying several boxes and bags, I've seen her carrying earlier.  
Though I could have sworn it was bigger.

"Heh heh. Those shops next door never knew what hit 'em!"

"Um, Emilia? Why did you buy two of everything?" Yut asked as Emilia shown us what she bought.

"I got one thing for me, and one for other people. This handkerchief's for Chelsea. She's always giving me stuff. I figured it was time to return the favour."

"And the large… thing? Who's that for?" We turned towards the larger bag.

"This stuffed animal? Erm… This is for you!" she handed me the strange green frog-like animal.

"For me? Really?" As I held the large soft plush in my hands.

"Yeah, just take it, okay? It's er… a customary way of giving thanks. I'm sure you're room could use some sprucing up, am I right? You could put it there!"

"Oh, err, it's just what I wanted… I really couldn't have asked for a better gift. I mean…" I took a deep breath and smiled.  
"Seriously, Thank you."

"It's nothing. Besides, I owe you. I mean… Thanks." She kept saying that, but I didn't really do anything.  
It really didn't feel like I've deserved any of it.

"Hnn? Emilia? Nothing for me?" Yut asked curiously with some pudding on his face.

"What? Oh, come on! I fed you enough pudding to choke a horse!" She replied.

"So, who's that little one for?" Yut pointed at the small purple box on the side.  
She picked up the box and her face lit up brighter than ever before.  
"Huh? Oh, this? Well, this is for-"

Suddenly I felt a cold chill in the air and not even a second later the alarms went off and the room went dark, and then a red light began to flash brightly.

"Announcing to all Little Wings! We have an emergency! An Armed group has penetrated a block under our jurisdiction on Clad 6!" Chelsea said over the intercom. "We are sealing off the affected block and all stores within to minimize damages."

We've heard something from outside the cafe.  
"What?! That sounded like gunshots coming from the hall!" She said before running out there.

"Emilia! Wait! That idiot..." I said before I chased after her.  
There were a few armed men in the hall.

"Wh-what? What's going on?!"

Emilia found herself in front of a few armed men, I've blasted one back but two of them quickly turned their fire in my direction forcing me to take cover.  
While the last one started to slowly walk towards Emilia.

"I, I didn't do anything." She fell back as the man aimed down his weapon but before they could fire they were hit with a whip.  
The other guys stopped shooting and so I peeked out from my cover and saw a green haired woman in a dark suit standing in front of Emilia with a whip out.

"You're slow." She said as she whipped the other two guys before they could shoot.

I stepped out of my cover and walked over towards them.  
"Good morning girls, weren't going to invite me to the party?" Kraz casually walked into the room, the woman walked up to him with a serious look on her face.

"Hey, gorgeous," Kraz said before getting punched across the jaw, I rubbed my jaw remembering something that happened not so long ago.

"Paycheck skimming garbage." The woman glared down at Kraz who was now flat on the floor.

"Well, that was a thing," I commented as I walked over towards them.

"What's the big idea?!" He picked himself off the ground as he rubbed his jaw.

"Keep your mouth shut! What time of day do you think it is? Your breath is making me wish I'd brought a hazmat suit.  
You're responsible for the security here, and you let these intruders run wild?!"

"intruders? I figured it was a bar fight." He slurred.

"Why would I be involved in a bar fight?!"

"Intruders, eh? Hrm… Armed, too. Some kind of terrorist wannabes, maybe?" Kraz barely looked at the guys on the ground, but from my perspective, that seemed like a fairly accurate guess.

"Chelsea, mind rounding them up and handing them over to the authorities?" The woman asked.

"My pleasure, certainment!" Chelsea said with a smile... but that's a given. She's always smiling.

"As for you, Kraz, I think it's time we had a nice long, chat. I've got quite a few jobs to talk with you about."

"Why is it always about work with you? Doesn't anything else interest you at all?" He said.

"Better than sitting around staring at the bottom of empty beer mugs all morning."

"Are you all right, Emilia?" Yut said as he helped her up.

"Yeah… thanks. I seem to be in one piece. Ursula scared me more than the attack, really.  
And seeing Kraz all worked up is never good for my nerves. Huh? Wait a second!"

"What is it?" Yut asked as Emilia began to look around frantically for something.

"The thing I bought, it's gone! I know I put it in here-  
Help me look, you two! I must have dropped it in the scuffle." At that moment Kraz picked up the purple box off the ground.

"Hrm? What's this now? Some kinda package? Looks like it's seen better days." He sighed.

"Oh, There it is." We walked over to him.

"Huh? This yours, Emilia?" He asked.

"Actually, er, well, I was going to give it to-"

"Huh? It's not yours? Someone musta forgot to throw it out. Where's that trash can got to? Ah, there we are."

"Kraz, wait!" I shouted.

"Hnn? Wuzzat? This yours? You want me to toss it for ya?" As the man threw the gift Emilia reached out her arm in a futile attempt to catch it.

"He shoots…he scores! Don't litter, kiddos." He cheered as it landed in the trashcan. Emilia's face went pale.  
"Hey!" She replied in a loud voice.

"Emilia? What's got into you?"

"Jerk…" She said softly as she began to shake.

"Hnn? Wuzzat? If you got something to say, say it loud? Yer competing with some serious ringing."

"JERK!" She shouted before running passed me and Yut.

"What're ya trying to do, shout off my earlobes?! Hold on a second, what's all this about, eh?"  
I silently glared at the man.

"What, you too, now?"

"Found it!" Yut ran up to us with the box in hand.

"Found what? Hey, that's the trash I just threw out. Good job, jungle boy."

"Emilia's scent led me to it. This is what she was looking for!"  
"Her scent?" I questioned.

"What's all this about now?" Kraz asked.

"Get a clue, Kraz?" The woman said. "Better yet, I'll give you three. The first would be that it's nicely wrapped. The second: Emilia would not tell you whose it was when you asked her. The third: she had a fit when you threw it out. If you can't figure it out with that, well, I'm afraid you're in the wrong business."

"...Mind repeating all that?"

"This is yours," Yut replied.

"Wait, but you just said it was Emilia's! Har!"

"Emilia was looking for it, but it's yours. She may not have been able to tell you, but she wanted you to have it. She told me so. And her face lit up even more than when she was eating that pudding." The first part was sort of a lie, Emilia didn't outright say it but Yut managed to piece it together before the boss.

Kraz didn't respond marking the end of that conversation.

"Let's talk about work, shall we?" The woman said before turning to me. "You there. You're the new recruit, yeah? Great, you can come talk with us."

"As fun as that sounds, I should probably go look for Emilia," I replied.

"I'm a bit concerned about her myself. Poor child, having to put up with this reject."

"I'm not- nevermind." I sighed.

"Don't worry! I'll find her!" Yut replied.

"Now there's a good sport! Great, you're on the case."

I thought about it again and realized it would probably be safer to keep my distance from her right now.  
"Yeah! Go get'er boy."

"I will find her!: With that said Yut ran off after her,

"Good kid. He's got spunk.." The 3 of us went back to the office.

"So, since we'll be working together. I suppose I should introduce myself. The name's Ursula Laurent. I'm the colony captain of Clad 6, and I run this Little Wing outfit. Just think of me as the little angel on Kraz's shoulder. A little angel with a mean whip."

"She's not Little Wing. She's with Skyclad our parent company. Like the big annoying parent, you just wish would kick the bucket." Essentially Kraz.

"Until you start pulling your own weight, Kraz, the only thing I'll be kicking is your behind." She said… Yes, this is essentially Kraz and Emilia.  
"Or maybe you'd like to explain why you chose to let armed intruders into a zone under your protection?"

The woman turned to me.

"Tell me, new recruit, what do you think of a defence contractor that can't even keep his own house in order?"

"I'd say he does the best he can," I replied with a grin.

"Now that's not what I expected you to say." She said with a puzzled look that quickly turned into a malicious grin.  
"Perhaps you're just showing your best side to your boss? He hasn't threatened you has he?"

"That's it, I'm bleeding good now. Just give the knife another twist, why don't ya? Look, kid, you don't need to show any side to me at all. I know I ain't much of a role model, and I'm okay with that- " Kraz replied.

"Ahem, There's a bit of a misunderstanding, I said he does his best, but look at the current state of the office.  
We're just about a lit match away from setting the place on fire."

"Well, that decides it. I'll be moving my operations here, to this office- as part of Little Wing."

"Hunh? What're you talking about?" Kraz just about fell back when she said that, the surprised look on his face was priceless. "What about your duties as captain? Don't you have anything to do for Skyclad? Nothing? Man, I knew that was a racket."

"They can reach me here if they need me. Besides, my staff is quite capable. More than I can say for the team here."  
As a part of the team I'd be offended but looking at us I couldn't really argue, especially after making that one comment about the state of the office.

"Which is why I need to keep a close watch on you, effective immediately. Thank you for your invaluable feedback, recruit."

"No problem, if you wanna hear more about Kraz, I'm your man." Making fun of the old man is always fun.

"We'll be seeing a lot more of each other." She replied with a grin.  
As I was about to leave the office I ran into Chelsea and Yut.

"Mademoiselle Emilia has been found! She is in your ship, it seems. Such a good boy, Yut!"

"...Wait, What?!" The thought of an angry Emilia on a ship I'm responsible for is never a good thing.

"Don't mention it. But I don't think you needed to get me a gift." Yut replied.

"Non, non! C'est ne pas a gift! It is a partner card. Like Identification, yes?"

"Identification?"

"It means that we are friends. Best of friends! You are part of Little Wing! Felicitations!" She said.

"Wait, What?! He's not going back to his village?" I asked.

"Non, in fact, we cannot even make contact with them, so great was the damage they sustained in the attack, yes? We thought it best to keep him safe with us until things settle down, you see..."

"Now, Yut. See you partner card?" She asked.  
"You give that to others when you work with them. Try it!"

"Like this?" Yut handed me his partner card and I became his contact.

"Monsieur Boss wants you to look out for Yut for a while, s'il vous plait. That is, look out for Yut and Emilia. Alors! How is the expression? You have your fingers full!"

"I'm not even surprised by this point…" I was then put in charge of two kids…. but I had no time to worry about it. I had to run back to the ship.

When I stepped aboard I heard the sound the chair crash into the wall.

"I hate him! I hate him, I hate him, I hate him!" Emilia shouted.

"Garbage?! I'll show him garbage!" She threw another chair.

"Emilia, please, you must be calm," Mika said "He meant you no ill will by his actions. It was merely poor timing, that is all."

"Poor timing? He threw it way! Who throws away a gift?! What a creep. Slime. Pond scum!  
I can't believe I was so happy about a few words of praise! Gah!"  
And she threw the last chair on my direction, but I moved out of the way.

"Oh, it's you. How about coming in here instead of snooping around like that?" She said with a scowl.  
I really wanted to leave but I had to make sure she didn't break anything important otherwise this would come out of my paycheck.

"Well, that kind of takes the wind out of my sails. And rips a big old hole in them. And sets fire to the ship." When she said that I've had a sinking feeling in the pit of my wallet.  
"Hehe, please don't actually do that…" I muttered nervously.

"It's all on account of those intruders." She said.

"Ah, yes, now that you are both here, I wished to speak with you about them…" Mika said. I walked in closer to listen.

"Huh? Oh yeah, that's right. Weren't you saying I was a target or something?" said Emilia.

"Yes. I sensed an observer-a presence not belonging to one of the intruders."

"Ah, I felt it too! A steady gaze, almost painful." Yut said standing between me and Emilia, neither of us noticing him until he said that.

"You mean a feeling like you're being watched? Kind of a-wait a second! Yut! You can hear Mika?" Emilia seemed surprised,  
Me on the other hand, I didn't dwell on it too much.

"Mika? Who is Mika?" Yut asked.

"The glowing lady next to Emilia," I replied.

"Ah, the lady. Yes, I can see her. So she is Mika."

"you can see her, too?! What's going on, Mika? I thought you said we were the only ones who could see you." Said Emilia.

"In truth, I do not understand it myself. The one called Kraz could not see me yet this boy clearly can."

"She looks like the Land-Mother." Said Yut.

"Land Mother?" I asked.

"The great Land-Mother, goddess of the Kasch. She resides within the Codex," he explained.

"The Codex? Where did you learn that word?" Mika asked.

"All Kasch know of the Codex. It was the Land-Mother that we learned the art of the mirage blast." He said.

"The Codex is a high-density recording medium developed by the Ancients.  
I can only assume that one of the personalities contained within it awoke and proceeded to convert the Kasch."

"The Codex… was that that red notebook thing the guy in black was carrying?" Emilia asked.

"Yes. The Land-Mother was taken. I… I wasn't strong enough. But then I sensed the Land-Mother again!  
Beside us, when Emilia was attacked! Now, I sense nothing… But I'm sure the one who took the Codex was nearby during the attack."

"You mean the man in black was here, on this colony? Seriously?!"

"I don't see any reason to doubt him, besides he looks pretty serious to me," I replied, from what Mika said before, it seemed the man in black had set his sight on Emilia. I pondered the idea of using her as bait, but I doubted in our current state we would have been able to take him out. We needed to train.

"I agree. If the boy can detect me, even without carrying a program, then it follows he would be able to sense the Codex." Said Mika.

"I must become stronger. I must become strong enough to win back our Codex, and the Land-Mother. Emilia! You must train me! You must train me at once!"

"Training? You mean, you want me to take you on an open mission or something? Actually, that's not a bad idea. Better than loafing around here. Might accidentally run into the boss." Emilia shivered.

"Alright, I'm down. I also have a bone to pick with that guy." I placed my hand on my chest where the man had scarred me.  
"Let's get to… training."

"The way you say that word bothers me. Take it easy on him, okay? He's just a kid…"

"You have a problem with my training style, Em?" I grinned.  
I remembered my little test, where I dropped her into a relic-site alone.  
Even though it was meant to scare her off, it still allowed me to assess her abilities.

"Then again… I guess you gotta have thick skin if you're gonna roll with the big boys.  
Right. Time to do some work. Clear the mind! Open Mission, here we come!"

"Training time!" Yut cheered.

I've looked through the Mission Terminal for a suitable assignment for the three of us.  
After picking one I've set the coordinates and we were set to go.


	11. 4th Universe: Happy Birthday

Throughout the entire mission, I had Emilia use nothing but her saber.  
In theory, she should have been keeping an eye on Yut thus learning a thing or two about the way he attacks, though sabers and spears are different weapons entirely, only time would tell if it worked. But there was another reason for that little rule.

"Whew! Nothing like a good workout to clear the mind." Emilia said as she lazily slid back into her seat.  
Both of the kids seemed to have had a good time and Emilia's mood had been lifted, at least until she got that call.

"Hey, you guys. Got a sec?" The boss appeared on her communicator.  
Emilia glared at the man and promptly cut the connection but it didn't take him long to call back.

"Emilia! Don't go cutting off your Comlink on me!"  
"Em?" I crossed my arms.  
She let out a sigh.

"You aren't still mad at me about before, are ya? Feh. You know what the problem about you kids is? You're kids!"

"Hey! I'd rather be a kid than a boorish, grumpy old sod like you!" She shouted.

"Bah..."

"Look, why don't you speak your piece and stop running up our com bill? Or did you just call to chew me out?"

"Hey, give me some credit. I got a job for ya. Get to the office, quick-like!"

"I don't want to!" She pouted childishly.

"You don't… what?!"

"If you got a job, why don't you bring it to us? What kind of job is it, anyway?  
Let me guess. You want us to pay your bar tab. Or buy some smutty magazine? Or maybe just…. take out the trash!"

"That's about enough of that outta you! Don't forget who's the boss here, ya runt!" He rose his voice.

"Squeal all you want, boss hog. I know who really brings home the bacon!" She replied.

"Bah! I don't even know what that means! Kaz out!" With that said he was gone.

"Whew… I can't believe I said all that. Well, I feel perfectly rotten. I sure don't want to see Kraz anytime soon, and the feeling's probably mutual.  
Why don't you go see what he wants?"

"Yeah, that'd be for the best," I replied as we headed back to Little Wing, and so I went to the office alone where Kraz and Ursula waited.

"Hey, you came. What about…. Emilia's not with you, is she?"

"Skip the chitchat and tell them why they're here." She replied.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get yer fatigues in a bunch. This request's direct from Inhelt Corp.  
They need someone to run security at a test of their subspace generator" He explained.

"It's more than just a test. Their sponsors will be present. Think, big P.R. event, very sensitive. You get the picture." Said Ursula.

"Sound important…" I replied.

"You'll be on site a full day, keep any unauthorized anything away from the subspace generator-device thingamajigs."  
I'm wasn't sure if I should have been concerned that Kraz sounded like he knew less about technology than I did.

"The tests will be taking place with the cooperation of the Communion of Gurhal at their facilities on Neudaiz.  
We won't be the only ones on security, either. The Guardians, the AMF, and a few other civilian outfits will be joining us." My stomach sank the second she mentioned the Guardians, but I tried to hide my disdain.  
"I've assigned Tonnio and Liina to another detail at the time, so it will only be you and Emilia on this job."

"Oh yeah, take that Yut kid with you, too. You're in charge of keeping him out of trouble, got it?" Krazz added. I don't think it would be much of an exaggeration to call me Little Wing's private babysitter at this point.

"Oh, and, er, speaking of Emilia, how's she holding up?"

"She's still pretty pissed," I replied bluntly.

"Figures. That kid's no end of trouble."

"Monsieur Boss! Oh, Monsieur Boss!" Suddenly Chelsea had come running in excitedly.  
"A large cake for me, please!"

"What the- What are you talking about? Why do you want a cake?"

"For Emilia's birthday, of course! Ooh, I did not remember until only today. So busy, you see"

"What, her birthday's coming up?" He asked.

"Mais Oui! Oh, but you must keep my preparations a secret! No telling! Ferme la bouche! I will go get the cake, yes? And the receipt in your name is good, Monsieur Boss?"

Before he could reply she ran off.

"Huh? What! I'm not paying for- Feh. Whatever. What're you still doing here? You got a big job ahead! Go get ready!  
We got a lot riding on this one, so don't screw it up, okay?"

Before we left I've sent a brief message to Emilia telling her the details of the mission and told her to get ready.  
I've gone into my room and picked up a few things, but before I left I've placed the stuffed animal on the shelf beside my bed and asked Rose a favour, one that would make her unavailable for the duration of this mission.

With those things done I was all set to go.

Once we've landed, we've gotten a good spot to watch the subspace experiment.  
We got to see what looked like a ship flying off into the blue cherry-blossom filled the sky,  
The ship flew above the mountains leaving behind a thin blue light in its path.  
Suddenly the ship had broken apart, each piece forming a circle in the sky connected by a light, this circle looked like some sort of portal to another world.

What was left of the ship was this tiny seed shaped pod that entered the portal and blasted off into what I assumed was subspace….  
Or at least that's what I thought it looked like. I could be completely wrong about all of that.

"Wow, so that's a subspace experiment. Pretty impressive." Emilia said as I stood there in awe.  
"Maghara isn't going to suddenly pop out of nowhere, is it?"

"There's no signs of such an occurrence as yer. The presence of Maghara is always heralded by a change in atmosphere.  
Also, while this test appears to have been successful, it is still not ready for practical application." Mika replied.

And thus my sense of wonder vanished with this talk of the possible end of the world.

"Huh. Then this job might not be so tough after all." Emilia sighed in relief.  
"As long as we just have to stand here watching them do what they do."

"Keep your guard up, Emilia," Yut said with a serious look.  
"We Kasch say "turn your head and fall on your face." It means, keep sharp."

"Sound less like a saying and more like something you did once," Emilia replied, I thought it sounded somewhat wise until she said that bit.  
"Whatever… I can't believe I'm spending all day today at work. What rotten luck."

"You're telling me." I've spent the last couple of days doing nothing but doing endless missions  
and I doubted I put a dent in what I owed.

"Hey, you reading this?" Kraz called from her ComLink.  
"Unfortunately, yes. What is it, Boss?" Emilia scowled.

"...Just listen, okay? Some creatures have gotten into the Communion of Gurhal testing facilities. They're causing quite a ruckus."

"What?! How'd they get in so easy?"

"Ha, Guardians must be slacking off…" I thought.

"Darned if I know, but it's up to you to get them out. Our team's the closest to the scene. Think you can check it out?"

"Huh? That's a weird way to ask. Whatever happened to "Bah! Get on it!"?" She said.

"This isn't some mop job. You'll be in real danger. You still up for it?" He replied in a calmer voice than usual.

Thinking about it professionally we didn't have much choice.  
On a more personal note, it was an opportunity to show up the Guardians.

"We're on it!" I replied enthusiastically.

"Yeah, we're-hey! Aren't you supposed to talk these things over with your partner before just agreeing to everything?!"

"Alright, what do you think we should do?" I asked.

"W-well, I guess if we're the only ones who can go, we don't really have a choice, do we?"  
If she agreed with the decision I didn't understand why she had to get worked up about it.

"But don't get the wrong idea, Boss! We're going 'cause we have to, not 'cause we owe you anything. Got it?!"

"Whatever gets the job done. Just let me say one thing." He said.

"If it's a complaint, you've said enough." She reached over to press the disconnect button.

"Don't get hurt in there, got it?"

"Huh?" Her hand froze in place as she looked at him with an expression of utter disbelief.

"I said don't get hurt! We clear?" he ordered.

"Y-Yeah, we're clear."

"Good. Then get to it." With that said he vanished,

"He wasn't just showing concern for us. Was he? Nah…. No time to waste! Let's get moving!"

"Yeah!" Yut replied and the two kids ran off ahead.

I didn't realize it until then but we've had a pretty good team,  
Yut had impressive power, I've had my techniques, and Emilia was learning on both ends.  
We've fought through enemy after enemy until we got lost.

I could have requested Rose find us a digital map or something but since she was busy with another request our options were limited.

"Darn it all! Why did it have to be so hard to find? Which way is it to the Communion facilities?!" Emilia complained, though, after the tenth wave of monsters  
and making seemingly zero progress, I couldn't blame her.

"Can't say myself, but do you think there'd be a lot of people at this facility?" Yut asked.

"Well, it is called the Communion. Probably, yeah." Emilia replied.

"Then I think I know which way it is. Look at all the footprints."

"Footprints? Where? I don't see anything."

I've scanned the ground but couldn't find anything either.

"What are you talking about? They're everywhere! And they're all headed in the same direction."  
"Is this one of those Kasch mind trick things? Okay, whatever. Lean on, Yut. Show us where those footprints go."

"Follow the prints? Got it!" And Yut ran on ahead with Emilia following after him. I shrugged and ran after them. Though it didn't take long for us to reach a fork in the road.

"Looks like the trail splits here," I said.  
There was a path leading through a door and one that leads through a patch of grass.

"The footprints don't lead to the door," Yut said as he walked towards the patch of grass.

"Right," I replied as I followed Yut through the grass.

"Wait!" Yut and I turned towards Emilia who stood by the door.  
"We're looking for a man-made facility, right? So, My vote's for the door. It's your call."

Both of the kids turned to me to make the final decision.

I understood Emilia's Logic, and this might just be me, but something didn't feel right.  
"I'm going to trust Yut on this one."

"I'm with Sai! Gotta go with your gut." Yut replied.  
I almost forgot that was the name on my partner card now.

After a few fights and a short walk,  
Yut ran on ahead and pointed beyond the trees.  
"See that big house over there?"

"Big house? Nope, not seeing it." Emilia replied. "Though the only big buildings around here are probably the communion's facility. Guess there's no harm checking it out.!"

If I didn't know he could see Mika I'd have called him crazy.  
"Wait!" He cried out as he got his spear ready. "Something's here. Watching us."

"Urk? You mean, like when those intruders attacked us?" Said Emilia, I got ready to break my limiter in case the man in black was to appear.

"No. Something different. It's not even trying to hide its presence from us." There was a rustling in the grass. "here it comes! Look out!"

Our eyes turned towards the tall patch of grass awaiting the monster Yut warned us about, suddenly several beams of light shot out from the grass.  
I've jumped forward blocking the beams but then two large balls of energy shot out, my resistance had little effect and the balls had sent me flying back passed Yut and Emilia.

What emerged from the grass was this huge monster, the bottom of this monster looked like a snail, the monster had 2 webbed claws over it and a head that made it look more like a sea monster.

I groaned in pain as I sat up and scanned the monster with my goggles.  
"[Dakamazli / FIRE]" appeared on the top left of my screen.  
Their power level was higher than any other enemy we've come across on this mission.

Yut ran towards the monster followed by Emilia.  
I was about to ask Rose for advice on this enemy but reminded myself she had her hands tied at the moment.  
Emilia and Yut got knocked back when the monster spun around with its claws spread out.

The beast had quickly spit out more beams towards them but they had managed to roll out of the way and continue fighting.  
What I initially thought was a light attack I recognized as Zonde, an electric type technique, shot out in rapid succession.

"Hmm, a Zonde barrage..." I've thought then chuckled.  
I found it funny that my style of casting seemed closer to that of a monster than most of the other forces I've come across.

But suddenly two more of the same monster had appeared from behind.  
"It was a trap," I muttered. And we fell for it hook, line, and sinker despite Yut's senses.

I took a deep breath and prepared to push my mental limit.  
Without Rose actively moderating the tech-mag it was more like a weight than something to balance instabilities.  
"Barta!" I launched 2 separate trails of ice towards them freezing the two monsters in place.  
I took another deep breath to keep myself in check before hitting them both with a Rabarta.

It's like the ice equivalent of Rafoie, just less destructive and has a much lower range, as well as blast radius.  
It's still one of the most effective techniques one could use against a fire enemy.  
Despite being covered in frost and having their movements greatly restricted they continued to shoot bolts of electricity but like before I had no difficulty blocking them.

"Still not enough? Fine... Dam-" Suddenly I've felt a sharp pain in my chest and the strong taste of blood forced it's way up my throat scratching it in the process. I covered my mouth and saw a little pool of blood covering my palm.  
"Damn..." I cursed as I clenched my bloody hand.

To my surprise, Yut and Emilia had come rushing past me and attacked the ice-covered monsters.  
Those two had taken down the monsters fairly quick.

I wiped my mouth and walked over towards them.  
"Whew… That wasn't pleasant." Emilia exhausted sigh.  
"I've gotten used to the fighting a bit. More than before at least. But I don't think I'll ever get used to ambushes! I guess that's why they're called ambushes, huh? Wish I had your second sight or whatever it is, Yut."

"It's not a sight, really. More like the land tells me things. Winds and sounds point to places, sand reveals tracks…" He explained.

"You lost me at the part about the land talking to you. All I understand is that whatever you do, I can't do it." She said.

"I just wish I had your experience. I feel like I know nothing." Yut replied. "I don't even understand the things my brother tried to teach me."

"Brother? You have a brother?" She asked.

"I had a brother. He went to join the Land-Mother."

"To join the… Oh. Sorry. I didn't know."

"Don't worry about it. My brother was the bravest of the Kasch. That's something I can be proud of." He replied.  
"He said we grew stronger by "touching death." I still don't know what he meant by that."

Emilia turned to me.  
"Maybe he means what happened to you at the relics site. I mean, not exactly, but that kind of thing."  
I doubted it after I've died I didn't feel any stronger, I have actually felt a sense of relief at the time,  
though It's not the type of thing I'd want to go around saying carelessly.

"What?! You've touched death?!" I turned towards Yut but the boy quickly rushed up and grabbed me by the shirt.

"Whoa! Why the sudden freakout, Yut?" She said calmly, despite the fact from my perception the situation was anything but calm!

"That's why you're so strong! You've touched death! You must tell me what it's like! What is death?! What is beyond death?!" As he shook me violently I've felt anything but strong.  
"Sorry to burst your bubble but it was pitch black," I replied.

"Pitch black… like you were closing your eyes? You couldn't see anything? I don't understand…. I just don't understand!" The boy continued to shake me.

"Emilia, a little help!" I cried out.

"Yut, please! Yut! You have to calm down!" Emilia replied. "Why don't you two talk after we're done with this job, okay?"

"But I… All right." The boy put me down. "Let's finish this then, Emilia!"  
And then the boy ran off on his own.  
"That's better… Huh?" She noticed me staring.  
"What is it? Did I do something strange?"

"I just wanted to say, Thanks... You really took charge." I scratched the back of my head.

"Really? I suppose someone has to take charge around here!" She smiled.

"What's that supposed to mean?! I'm still the- Nevermind…" This wasn't worth arguing over.  
"but you know you were kind of like a big sister to him."

"A big sister, huh? I don't have any siblings myself. Maybe this is just what I needed," her smile quickly faded when she realized something.  
"A kid brother who just ran off on his own! "

"Dammit…" I cursed under my breath.  
"Yipes! Let's get going!" She said as we ran off after Yut.


	12. 4th Universe: Happy Birthday 2

Once we've entered the facility there was no sign of Yut, and with so many halls he could have been anywhere.

"Perhaps we should split up," I suggested.

"Wait?! Wha-… Not again.." She sighed in disappointment.

"Relax, it's not like I'm going to be looking for trouble and besides, I'm quite confident in my abilities," I said smugly as I summoned my tech-mag to hover over my open hand.

"Didn't you hear what Kraz said? This is dangerous! We should-"

"Exactly! That is why we need to find the kid and fast!" I put a hand on her shoulder "Relax, I believe you can handle yourself. So try and trust me too." I replied I wouldn't blame her if she didn't really believe in me considering my actions might be considered borderline self-destructive.

"But-!"

"Chin up, he couldn't have gotten far right? Worst comes to shove, you could call me and I'll call up Rose and she'll direct me straight to you guys" I replied,

"Wait! Why can't you call her now? It would save us the trouble of having to look for him."

"I would, except she's busy doing another favour for me at the moment." I crossed my arms.

"What favour?"

"Tick Tock! Percival! The longer we wait, The harder it'll be to find him."

"Grr, Fine!" She said as she ran off on her own in a huff.

After a minute of thinking about it, I've come to the realization she was right about splitting up being a was a bad idea, because, now I've had two kids on the run with no way to find them.

"Well, shite… Kraz is gonna kill me." I scratched the back of my head.

"Speaking of that favour." I've decided to call Rose to check up on her.

"Hey, how's it coming?" She wore a welding mask over her face when she picked up the visiphone.

"It'll take another hour or two, it should be done by the time you get back." She said as she was drilling something.

"Sounds good, I'll let you get back to it, and… Thanks." She nodded in response before hanging up the line.

After a few minutes of walking, I've heard a loud rumbling noise nearby.  
I ran over towards the noise but when I've entered the room before I knew it I was met with a blinding light and a face full of hot air. Judging from the power alone I could tell this wasn't from Emilia, but it didn't have the same amount of heart Yut put into his mirage blast… No this was Too powerful for Emilia, too soulless for Yut.

When the flames cleared it was made clear to me.

"Guardian…" I growled as I stared daggers at the formally dressed girl across the room.  
As much as I wanted to go over there and say my mind, I decided to examine the situation. It would be terrible if I found out she saved them only for me to run my mouth carelessly.

"Hear that sound? That's the evac alarm. You need to leave the facility immediately." She scolded them, though once again I didn't notice the alarm, myself.

"No, we're part of security detail here," Emilia replied.

"Oh, Mercenaries, then. Well, I think you're in over your head if you were having trouble dealing with those creatures just now. They were easy."

"What?! Just who are you supposed to be?"

"Lumia Waber, Guardians Intelligence Division." Waber. I knew the name well, In addition to being a guardian she also happened to be related to the "Hero of Gurhal", it was like faith just really wanted to slap me in the face.

"Guardians!" Emilia's eyes widened.

"That's right. We're here to help people trapped in the shelter, further in." She explained.

"People are trapped inside?" I pondered from a distance.

Emilia with a scowl pulled out her communicator.  
"Hey, Boss. You read?"

"Hey, it's you! What happened back there? Why'd the comm drop like that?" He asked.

"We're changing our mission, okay? There are people trapped inside a shelter in here. We're getting them out!" She replied.

I grinned with my arms crossed.

"What? Just you wait a minute! You can't change missions on the fly! What about protecting the test devices?" Kraz argued.

"We'll help people while we protect the stuff, okay?"

"What? You can't do that! Hey!" With that, she hung up the com, which was like icing on the cake for me. If she had a bit more experience I'd have accepted her as the leader no questions asked.

"…What are you talking about?" The guardian seemed agitated.

"We can't leave rescuing people to the Guardians. Are you kidding?"

"You're coming with me, then? You'd better not get in the way." She sighed.

"I never said we'd be going with you. Leaving them to the Guardians would be like signing their death warrant!" She replied as I watched in amusement.

"Do all mercenaries insist on babbling like you do? Let me explain this in words you're sure to understand." She let out a little cough before speaking in clear words. "We have no use for WEAKLINGS on this operation. None."

"There's the Guardians attitude we all know and hate! Why are you always like that? Always so superior! That reminds me, I thought your name sounded familiar! Are you related to the hero, Ethan Waber? You are, aren't you?! That's probably how you got into the Guardians in the first place! And you call me weak! Ha!" And she dropped the name card, I tried to hide my laughter behind a fist.

"No. My accomplishments have nothing to do with my brother. I'm Lumia. Lumia!" She replied angrily but their argument was interrupted by a loud slow clap as I approached them, they turned towards me with a confused look.

"As much fun as this has been, We've got more important things to do."

"And where have you been?" She turned her glare towards me.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," I said brushing off her complaint with a smile as I glared at Lumia underneath my goggles.

Just from looking at her I could tell she was also a force, but different from myself, if I were to say I was a _Force of Heart_ , I'd consider her a _Force of Mind_.

Her techniques would be no different from that of a machine, they had no heart, no soul… no meaning and that is probably what pissed me off most of all… I wouldn't even recognize her as human. That was my first impression anyway.

"For now, let's just calm down and be professional. There is a job to do and people to help" I replied with my arms crossed firmly.

"Grr, Fine," Emilia replied. "It still doesn't change my opinion of the Guardians."

"I'm a little confused, What's so bad about the Guardians?" Yut asked.

"Oh, er, well…" Emilia couldn't find the words to answer and I didn't want to answer, not that I've said anything to tip off any of them about my hatred.

"My apologies. I, too, spoke without proper consideration. In any case, it does no good for us to stand here arguing. If you insist on coming, I will join you. The rescue will be a joint mission." The Guardian said with the least apologetic face I've seen."Furthermore, if you insist on not trusting me, you are welcome to keep me under observation for the duration of the mission."

"...Oh, I will." Emilia narrowed her eyes.

"Then it's settled. Enough wasting time. Let's get rescuing." said the Guardian.

Lumia joined the Party.

The 4 of us had entered the next room, across from us were a large group of monsters moving towards us.

"the creatures are after the equipment!" said the monsters ran towards the tech.

"We can't let them reach it!" Said Emilia.

We've fought the monsters and defended the equipment. It was just as I thought, for the most part, her techniques lacked heart but they were still really powerful.

The final floor was this large spacious room with the computer terminals we need to protect on opposite ends of the room.

In the center was this large machine gun.

"You're up Em," I said as I nudged her forward.

"Huh?" She looked at me with a puzzled gaze.

"Guns aren't my thing… and would you really trust those two with that thing?" I turned towards Yut and Lumia.

"I see your point…" She sighed.

"Hey!" Lumia replied but we ignored her as Emilia entered the turret.

As a huge wave of enemies broke through the doors we've split off into different parts of the room.

Yut and I went right and Lumia made a dash in the opposite direction.

I avoided using techniques while Lumia didn't hesitate to throw everything she had at the enemies, it was clear all she wanted to do was get this over with. Her movements were stiff and precise, it was hard not to get annoyed. It was hard not to stare. Suddenly a stream bullets flew over my shoulder killing a monster behind me.

"What are you doing?!" I've heard Emilia say over the com.

"Sorry, just got distracted…" I said as I continued to fight.

Hold on… did she really risk blasting my head off?! Never mind.

When that was finished all of the monsters were defeated and the building was secure.  
At least that's what we thought.

"And that's the last of 'em!" Emilia exhaled as she stepped out of the turret. "We managed to pull it off. Time for a rescue mission!"

"Something's wrong. I detect no creatures left in the area… Yet no one tries to escape. Why?" Lumia questioned.

"That is odd." I agreed begrudgingly.

"They're probably still in shock from the suddenness of it all," Emilia replied. "Or they're frightened by being trapped! It's really scary, you know."

"I know. But what if something is preventing them from escaping, even if they want to?"

"We're not going to find answers by standing around here," I replied as I walked on ahead, Lumia came following after me.

"Hey, wait up!" I've heard Emilia call out but I didn't hear any footsteps.

When we got there we weren't ready for what we had seen.

A silver two-headed dragon flying around the room.

"Alterazgoug! This is bad… What would a Communion test creature be rampaging here for? It makes no sense!"

I had no clue as to what why that would be.  
But what we needed to do was clear as day.

"So that thing was why no one was able to escape!" Emilia came rushing up behind us with Yut.  
"I kinda want to escape myself… You sure we can handle that?"

Before I could speak up Lumia stepped forward with her staff in hand.

"I see no need for you to fight. Withdraw, and I will handle this. Your mission is complete, in any case."

"Are you stupid? You can't fight that alone!" I argued.

"I am a Guardian. I cannot leave when people are in need of help."

When she said that a fuzzy image or a distant memory played in my mind.  
I was left speechless. And it pissed me off.

"Yeah, but you dying isn't going to help them either!" Emilia argued.

"Even if it means death, I must try. To do any less would be to dishonour my brother!"

"Gah! Are all Guardians thing annoyingly righteous?!" Emilia rushed past me and stood next to Lumia with her staff in hand.

"What are you doing? You must leave at once!" Lumia replied.

"Hey, I don't want to fight this thing either, but if I leave it to you, you might run for the hills," Emilia said with a smirk. "So we're staying. Got it?"

"Heh, What the lady says goes, not that I planned on leaving either way," I replied as I prepared my tech-mag.

"You really need to-" The dragon let out a loud roar as it soared down towards us.  
"Never mind. Here it comes!"

The beast shot out two powerful beams towards us, the head held higher fired a beam of pure darkness while the low hanging head shot out a beam of pure light. I was surprised to see two large birds emerge from each beam.

The light and dark bird circled around the dragon as it marched towards us.

The dragon had the ability to change between light and dark, both elements would take quite a bit of energy to use.

If I were to continuously use those types of techniques I'd be in trouble.

We tried to avoid the two birds when they charged down towards us.  
"Lumia, " I've spoken to her through my goggles, I've asked her which techniques she knew and the 2 that caught my attention were Grants and Ramegid.

I've directed her on which technique to strike it with.

"Grants!"

Light rained down on the dragon, like if a God was striking it with a really big hammer.

"Ramegid!"  
An orb of darkness hovered over the dragon as the darkness surrounding it pushed it to the ground.  
I've also directed Yut when and where to attack, mostly in between Lumia and Emilia casting techs He's also done a splendid job at keeping it busy.

Emilia and I had dealt with the birds he had summoned out, keeping them off Lumia so she could cast and rest without worry of getting hit with a status effect, after all, she was using higher level techniques.

Lumia was definitely our heavy hitter in this battle, as much as it pained me to admit, we might not have been able to have done it without her.  
You might say I was jealous of her power, but at the same time, I've felt some pity.  
Heart could never truly beat mind, but I stand by with what I've said.  
Casting techniques without heart hold no meaning and a talented force such as Lumia who never tried to harness the power of their own humanity was just wasted potential in my eyes.

A true master force could manage both ends of the spectrum.

Between me and Lumia she was younger and closer to mastering the craft than I, which in itself was a kick to the nuts…

Although, Emilia in my eyes has even greater potential than Lumia, though I might be biased seeing as she was sort of my student as well as my partner.

"Whew! We…. we did it," said Emilia after we've defeated the dragon. "If the Communion of Gurhal is going to have creatures like that around, you'd think they'd at least watch them a little closer!"

"No kidding…" I sighed as I lied back on the ground hoping the dragon doesn't come back alive and target Emilia forcing me to jump in and die to save her, again.

"The people trapped inside are safe," Lumia said as she approached us. "We're lucky we made it in time. There was a handful of wounded, but I've called for help."

"That's a relief. Kraz's be fuming if we failed the mission now." Said Emilia.

"Frankly, I could have gotten here sooner if you hadn't been involved," Lumia replied.

"Are you serious?!" I shot up from the ground.

"You really think you could have taken that thing down without us?" said Emilia. "Not that you were completely useless, For a Guardian, anyhow."

The two stood there staring silently at each other.  
"What's your name?" Lumia asked.

"Emilia. Emilia Percival. I work for Little Wing, a private security firm. If you wanna file a complaint, take it up with them."

"Emilia. Right. Well, I should be going. There are reports to be written." She said before walking away.

"Cold right up to the end. That'll teach us to lend a hand!" Said Emilia. "Well, whatever. We should probably head back, too."

With the mission finished we all headed back to the ship.

On the way, Rose called me and told me the plan.

The party would be held in the office, I passed on the message to Yut telling to get off the ship as soon as we docked, there Rose would guide him to the office. My job was to accompany her to the office, nothing too important… I suppose she could have tried to skip out, but I doubt that would've happened.

Upon returning Chelsea gave us a call, Yut quickly slipped out a second before the call.

"Welcome back! So sorry to disturb you so soon, but Monsieur Boss needs to see you."

"Blegh. I don't suppose I get a pass on this one." She replied.

"No no. He wants to see you especially, Emilia. We'll be waiting!"

"All right, all right. I'm coming."

"All that trouble with Lumia nearly made me forget about all Kraz's griping." She sunk back into her seat. "He's not gonna be happy. Him and Ursula both, probably…. *sigh* Of all days, why'd today have to turn out so bad."

The two of us headed down to the important looking office in the far back, the sign read CEO's office so I assumed it was Ursula's.  
Emilia pressed her finger on the buzzer.

"Emilia, reporting for duty…" She sounded like she was on death row.

"Come in, Emilia" Ursula replied.

"Ugh, just the sound of her voice makes my stomach do backflips. I can trust you to get my back, right? Don't forget: we're partners."

There's that damn word again… Though this time, I didn't seem to react negatively.  
In fact, it almost felt natural.

"I got you," I smirked. She smiled slightly but her face still looked a little pale.

"I feel a lot better knowing we're in this together. Let's do this! Take a deep breath, Emilia Hold it in… Here goes!"

We entered the room, it was dark, not a single sound.

Even if I knew the plan it felt like we were walking into an ambush.

Then suddenly the lights came on and the sounds of poppers went off as confetti flew everywhere.

Everyone shouted Happy birthday.

"Er… what?" Emilia stood there confused.

"Careful, it could be a trap," I smirked.

"You're right! They're just trying to lull me into a false sense of security. You won't fool me!" Emilia tried to run off but I stopped her with my arm.

"You're already a fool," Kraz replied. "Don't you know a birthday party when you see one?"

"Hold up, Kraz! You're not really mad at me?"

"Why should I be mad?" he asked.

"You saved the day down there. We even got a thank you from the Guardians." Ursula replied.

"The Guardians? Really? I thought Lumia had it in for me."

I was as surprised as Emilia to hear that part. Well, maybe not as surprised.

"Besides, it's not like you didn't follow orders." Said Kraz. "You took care of your own business, then you helped the Guardians out. That's usin' your noggin. The only one around here not usin' his noggin is yours truly."

"Come again?" Said Emilia.

"Forget it. Come here a second, would ya?" Kraz reached into his coat.

"You're not luring me in close so you could sucker punch me, are you?" The way she reacted I wonder if that actually happened… Oh, I hope not.

"Shut up and get over here! I swear, talking with you is like pulling teeth. Now c'mon and take this already."

He handed her a fancy little black box.

"What is it?" She asked cautiously.

"If you'd stop yapping long enough to open it, you'd see."

Inside were these silver winged earrings.

"Earrings? What are these for?"

"What are they for? They're your bleedin' birthday present!"

"A birthday present? For me?!"

"What else would I give you at a birthday party? I didn't have much time to go shopping, so I just grabbed the first thing I saw." Kraz put his hands on his hips and sighed. "If I'd known how much trouble it would be just getting you to take the darn things, I wouldn't have bothered."

"Hang on a second!"

"What now?"

"That necklace you're wearing. I thought you threw it away."

"I figured if no one else wanted it, why let it go to waste? You got a problem with that?"

"Nope, no problem! It looks good on you! Oh, the earrings! I nearly forgot! Can I put them on? Who cares?! I'm putting them on!"

I walked over to the table to get a glass of juice and sat down on a couch as Emilia put on her earrings.

"Oooohhh! They're beautiful! Look! Aren't they gorgeous? See how nice they are?"

Rose sat next to me with a puzzled look on her face.

"Huh? What is it?" I asked.

"Cyruss? You're smiling." She said with a warm smile as her legs dangled on the chair making her seem like a child.  
"Ahem, something wrong with that?"

"No, but…" She handed me a little box.

"Oh, right…" I took a deep breath.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah… I just need a moment." I stared down at the box in my hand for a moment and walked over towards Emilia.

"Huh? Cy-"

"Here, this is- er.. just take it." I handed it to her, giving it to her was hard enough but the fact there was an audience watching us made it harder.

"Y-you too?"

She opened the box and Inside was a visor pained red and pink.

"It's no earrings, but it should help keep you… you know, stay safe." I said with a scowl before I could see a reaction I've darted out of the room and went back to the ship.

I've sunk back into the captain's seat and let out a short breath.

"Rose, what happened?" I asked but there was no response…

"Rose?" There was a sharp ping that sounded in my ear as a pink envelope appeared at the edge of my goggles blue tinted screen that read "Thank you - Em"


	13. 4-5

After a while, I've decided to return to the party but most of the people had left, except Chelsea, Ursula, and Kraz.  
Chelsea doing most of the cleaning with a smile, I've decided to lend a hand.

"Merci, Monsieur Sai"

"Uh, You're welcome… I think?" I replied.

"Since you have come, Emilia is smiling much more than before."

I didn't really respond, I stood by my earlier thoughts, I didn't do anything that deserved a thank you.  
You could have placed just about anyone in my position and there'd be no huge difference. Human, Newman, Cast, Beast, Force, Hunter, Ranger, Vanguard, Male, Female.  
Anyone at all.

Chelsea leaned in closer and spoke softly so no one could hear.

"When she came over to the pub where I used to work, ooh la la, hopeless! Just when I thought we might make a worker out of her, the pub goes under. Ploop. Then she went with Monsieur boss. She never said as much, but I think it was very hard for her, you know?"

I recorded that portion of Emilia's history into my goggles, I doubted it would have anything to do with the ancients but it couldn't hurt to understand her a little more...

"And you know how Monsieur boss can be. The two of them, they did not get along. Like a… a smelly dog and a little kitty. But how that little kitty has grown since you came. She is much nicer now, I assure you. Many more smiles, oui."

"Uh, oui…?" I said with uncertainty.

"You take care of her for us, s'il vous plait! But do not make her cry, or we will take care of you!" The way she said that with a smile on her face was enough to put the fear God into me… Unlike Emilia, her red eyes actually made her more terrifying.

"Yeah… that's my job after all." I've replied, though that didn't seem like it was the answer she was looking for, still, at least we've reached an understanding. I keep the kid happy and I don't lose a limb…

After we were done cleaning Chelsea walked over to Kraz and Ursula who seemed to be engrossed in their own conversation so I've left them to it.

As I left the office everything felt still and calm.

It made me happy that for once everything was so peaceful.

I've found Yut in the cafe eagerly asking the cashier for pudding. Though I wasn't sure if the conversation was going anywhere. I let out a sigh and walked over to the counter. I handed them my meseta card and I've ordered some pudding along with another box of my sour candy.

Yut and I sat across from each other, I silently popped a piece of candy in my mouth as I watched Yut wolfing down his pudding. I was surprised when he looked up from it and stared back at me with a puzzled gaze and asked me.

"Have you ever run into the Traveler in White?" The question caught me by surprise.

"L-Let me think…" I've looked through my hazy memories but couldn't recall recently having run into anyone called that.

"No, I don't think so… Why?"

"I ask because, well…" Yut fell silent which was unusual for him. I was a little concerned.  
"Something about you is like the Traveler. I thought you might be friends, even."

I've took a minute to think again… Do I know anyone dressed in white?

"Maybe we've met, what else can you tell me about them?" I asked.

"The Traveler in white used to come to our village and teach us things. Always with such warmth… Like the warmth of the Land-Mother's embrace."

The fact he says, I remind him of this person made me seriously question his judge of character. I'd think I'm anything but warm.

"-Not like other casts at all." He said "-But lonely sometimes, too."

"L-Lonely… You don't say…"

" No, more like the Traveler was waiting for someone. I wonder who? Maybe you got an idea?"

He looked at me awaiting a response. I've thought about it once more. A white, warm, lonely cast…  
"Heh, Sorry, I have no clue who you're talking about," I replied though I suppose I saw how he could have seen a connection from the last bit…  
Still, I'm not warm, nor am I a cast.

"Oh, Okay." Yut returned to his pudding.

I wondered more about this person he mentioned, I could have looked more into it but, a white CAST was too broad for me to find any record of who he might be talking about.

Not that it really mattered in the end, I was just curious about what he could see in me that would remind him of them.

I didn't see Emilia for the rest of the day. I returned to my room to get some rest for whatever tomorrow had ready for us.

When I entered I found Rose sitting on the desk in sleep mode and there was a slice of cake on the side desk next to that stuffed monster doll.

"I guess we're even…" I sighed as I lied back in my bed with the screen of my mask shut down and went to sleep.

The next morning, I saw Rose still in sleep mode.

"I'm up first? What time is it?" I activated my goggles.

At that moment I heard the door open and Emilia came bursting in with her smile as big as it was yesterday. "Good morning! Another beautiful day to get some work done!"

"You're certainly in a good mood," I replied.

"Am I? I hadn't noticed? Aren't I always like this?" She replied. Though, now I'm thinking I should have asked her if she ate something funny.

"You've been behaving differently since your birthday party, Emilia. Sitting in your room, looking at your earrings, smiling." Mika appeared next to her.

Emilia's brow furrowed as she turned towards Mika.

"Whoa! Timeout! I don't like the way this conversation is headed."

"What's not to like? Your happiness is my happiness. And not only your happiness, Emilia. The happiness of all the people in the Gurhal system."

"The people of Gurhal…" I was so certain I would be able to understand but somehow I couldn't comprehend her sentiment. I was left with nothing but an empty feeling in my chest. I could sense the sincerity and love in her voice as she spoke yet I couldn't feel it for myself.

"The whole system, huh? You're not much for playing things down, are you? Actually, there's something I've been meaning to ask you: Why exactly are you helping us, anyway?" Emilia replied.

"You are my children, my sons, my daughters… My family."

"Family?" I trailed off.

"The ancients created the humans, but we did not create them from nothing. I am the vessel from which all of humanity was born."

"What?! You mean if we've traced everything back to the beginning you'd be our great great great great grandmother?" Said Emilia.

"Something like that, yes. So it's only natural I should want to protect you."

"They say there's nothing greater than a mother's love. Not that I'd know…."

"A mother's love, yes. I may be a program now, but I think that's exactly what it is." Mika replied.  
Not that being a program really meant anything. If a CAST could have a heart I couldn't see why Mika couldn't.

Suddenly we hear some heavy footsteps that stopped in front of the door, followed by Yut's voice calling inside. "Hey, you two! Err Make that you three. Mika's here, I can smell her." He said as he entered the room.

"Knock! THEN enter. I swear, you never listen." Said the girl who had just barged in here earlier. "And what do you mean smell yo 'smell' her? She doesn't smell."

At this point, I've learned just to roll with Yut's senses so I didn't have anything to add.

"It's not like that! Whenever Mika's around, I smell something sweet, like honey,"

"The scent of the Tethi… A Flower" Mika replied.

"Tethi?" I asked.

"A flower I liked once, long ago." Suddenly an image of a white glowing flower popped into my head…

"Wh-What?! What's happening? I'm seeing something…" Emilia said. Call it a hunch, but I think she saw it too.

"There are no tethis in this time, but perhaps my spirit carries their scent, even if it is no more than numbers in my program."

"Nope, no good. I don't smell anything. But you didn't come here to talk about flowers, Yut. What is it you wanted, anyway?" Emilia asked.

"Right, sorry! Kraz sent me to get you. He had something he needed you to do." He said.

"Better get going, then. He doesn't like being kept waiting." Emilia replied before leaving the room with Yut.

People might say I was responsible for Emilia's change, but she was always kind.  
She wished me back to life and saved me a few more times in those first few days,  
the one responsible for giving her that little nudge was Mika,  
and Gurhal being in danger might have also helped motivate her.

If they're talking about her happiness, that would be mostly Kraz.

That was really all there is to it.


	14. 5th Universe: An Encounter Across Time

"You called?" Said Emilia, as we entered the office.

"Perfect timing. The news is just about to start." Said Kraz.  
We walked towards him and turned our attention to the TV screen.

The opening was the just Hal, the reporter, greeting the audience watching the channel before getting to the actual news.

 _"Groups of people have been mysteriously disappearing throughout Gurhal. So many, in fact, that authorities are unable to keep up.."_

It was just as May said earlier. We know who is behind the scenes, the man in black.

It was hard for me to imagine this not being related to the ancients return.

 _"The missing who have been found recall nothing, and these apparent abductions lack any clear motive. A man present at the recent attack on the Kasch who is suspected of leading the abductions is currently under investigation."_

I recorded this broadcast for future reference,

Only Emilia and I saw the man in black, well, us and a handful of Kasch, but I have no clue where those guys are. I wondered where these people got their information, though we might have said as much before.

 _"I'm Hal, and this has been a presentation of Gurhal Headline News, Channel 5. See you next time!"_ With that, the news had ended and Kraz turned off the TV.

"Very informative," Said Emilia. "But what's that got to do with us?"

"Remember the little incident we had right here on Clad 6? Turns out the people in the raiding party had all gone missing, too. And none of them remembered anything afterward either."

"Are you saying they're somehow related to the people who attacked Yut's village?"

I thought we knew this, but I suppose I was wrong. The man in black had shown up at both locations.

"Something's happening, that's for sure." Kraz crossed his arms. "But it gets even better. And more personal… We had some of our own people out looking for these abductees, but now they've gone missing too,"

"Talk about a vicious circle," Emilia replied.

"It's possible these people are being used to commit crimes."Said Ursula. "Whether they remember it or not, if someone from our firm is involved, our reputation could be ruined."

Kraz scratched the back of his head as he averted his eyes away.  
"We know where we lost contact, but right now you're the only ones we can send out after 'em. Will you go?"

"Well, if you're sending in the big guns…You must really have your hands tied." I replied with a smirk.

"I wish there were some other way. Feel bad giving you all our dirty work."

"Don't worry, Kraz. We'll find'em for ya!" Emilia said.

"Who put the zippity in your doo dah? I was just startin' to get used to your whining about work."

"That's the old me! With my new partner, things are looking up."

I winced in pain.

"Glad to hear it. Well, I'm counting on you. Just be careful out there." He said,

"You got it!"

As we stepped onto the ship Emilia's smile disappeared and she turned to us with a serious look.

"I've been thinking about what we saw on the news." She said.

"Really? I see… what are you thinking?"

"The attack on Yut's village, the attack here… I'm thinking the man in black is behind them both,"

"I agree…" even if I thought it would have been obvious.

"It's too much to be a coincidence. Yut said he could feel his presence during the attack here."

"I did, I'm sure of it! The man who stole the Land-Mother was here!" Yut said as he entered the ship.

"I know he was. Right now we need to focus on getting our people back." She said.

I nodded as I stepped towards the mission terminal and set our destination, a snowy mountain on Moatoob where our lost allies have last been seen.

I called Rose and spoke in a hushed voice so the other two wouldn't hear.

"Rose? Connect me to May…"

"May?"

"She's been investigating the disappearances since before we've joined Little wing. This man in black is dangerous… and if he's behind it." I turned my head towards Yut and Emilia in the back. "I'd like to stop him as soon as possible…"

After a moment of silence, she spoke again.  
"I can't seem to reach her…"  
"...I was afraid of that." I sighed as I disconnected our call.

Once we've landed on the snowy mountain Emilia started shaking as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Brrr! I'm freezing! Why couldn't they disappear somewhere warmer?!"

"It's not that cold." Yut shrugged.

"Are you kidding me?! How can you be dressed like that and not be cold?!"

"I'm used to it!" He said proudly.

"This is beyond getting used to it! I'm about to start sprouting icicles."

"Geez…" I handed her my coat. "Put that on… It's not much but it's better than what you have on…"

"But-"

"If you're worried about me, I'll be fine, I'm a force… I can manage a little cold air." I replied. "Now, quit shouting before you cause an avalanche…"

"Someone's coming." Yut turned towards the path as a familiar looking figure approached.

"Just my luck…" I glared at the girl.

"I wondered who could be making so much noise in such remote mountains. I might have guessed." Said the Guardian.

"Lumia, was it? What are you doing here?" Emilia asked.

"That's none of your concern." She replied.

"No, of course not. I probably couldn't even comprehend your mysterious Guardians missions. Oooh." Emilia rolled her eyes. "C'mon, let's get going. We have missing people to find. We don't have time to waste on her."

"Wait! Did you say missing people?" Lumia called out stopping us.

"Yeah, there's been a lot of that going around lately. If you see anyone else from Little Wing let our office know. I'm sure they'd be glad to hear about it." Emilia replied as we continued walking.

"Wait!" Lumia shouted.

"What for? In case you hadn't noticed, it's freezing. We'd kinda like to be on our way." She replied.

"It's not safe here. As a Guardian, I cannot permit you to go any further on your own. I will accompany you."

"You'll what?" Emilia looked surprised. Though I, unfortunately, saw this coming the moment she appeared, faith isn't very subtle when it came to messing with me.

"It will be more efficient. Besides, I can't think of any reason you should object."

"Not wanting you to butt in is reason enough!" Said, Emilia, as she turned to me. "You're with me on this, right?"

"We don't need any help…" I replied.

"Need it or not, you have it. You didn't really think I'd take no for an answer?"

"A girl can dream, can't see?" Emilia sighed. "Fine, if you're gonna come with us, come with us."

She caved in surprisingly quickly. Though, maybe she was actually hoping she'd follow us.

"Why do I get the feeling things have just gone from bad to worse?" Emilia sighed before turning to Yut. "What's with you, Yut? You've been staring up ahead the whole time."

"Be careful. I sense danger ahead. It feels like what happened three years ago…No, No, this is different…"

"3 years ago…" I trailed off.

"Everything you feel always turns out spot on, so maybe you could just spare us the bad stuff." Said Emilia.  
"Aw, nuts to this! If we're going to be all depressed about it, might as well get it over with!"

I shook my head. "Y-yeah, Let's go!"

The enemies up ahead were fairly easy and weak to fire, so getting through was a breeze.

Eventually, we've reached this little-rounded route that leads up the mountain, The way it was shaped was just a huge red flag… Sort of like something was begging to be rolled down it.

"Something's coming!" Emilia shouted as a large snowball came rolling towards us.

"U-turn! U-turn!" She shouted.

As they ran I stood still and lifted up my left arm and whispered.

"Damfoie…"

A large burst of fire spiralled up the trail, I turned back but the others were already gone.

"I suppose I should have said, wait, or something…" I shrugged as I continued to walk up the trail. "Rose? Could you tell them to come up? I'm going to scout ahead…"

When I reached the top of the hill I was shocked at what was waiting for me… A large group of monsters, but not just any monster.

"Seed…" I growled.

I snapped my fingers but a big [DEACTIVATED] message appeared on my goggles.

"Come on!" I shouted.

"SEED detected, Tech-mag deactivated." Said an automated message.

"Fine…" I sighed as I dashed on ahead with my blade, I shouted angrily with each swing. I've felt something build up within my chest as I continuously cut through seed after seed, but I eventually found myself surrounded.

"That power…" Before I could summon it I heard a voice.

The others had just arrived.

"The Seed?! How is that possible?" Lumia used a technic to clear out a path for me to escape.

Yut came in to help clear out the others as Emilia supported him with technics.

I rushed over to their side where it was safe.

"Thanks, My tech-mag got disabled and these things came out of nowhere." I expected to get scolded for wandering off on my own but Emilia just silently stared at the Seed as Yut continued to fight them.

"Something doesn't seem right! They disappear as soon as we kill them." She said, I took another look and realized she was right.

When the last of the seed here were defeated we ran on ahead. With the seed involved, it wasn't looking good for our missing people.

As we ran through the snowy mountain path we've reached this large open space… As I said, faith is as subtle as a ton of bricks…

I fully expected something to happen so I lagged back as they walked on ahead.

When suddenly the mountain started to shake violently.

"Earthquakes and snowy mountains are a bad mix…" Emilia panicked but then the rumbling stopped.

"It's quiet… I think it's over." Lumia let out a sigh of relief, but at that moment a giant snowball came rolling down towards us covering almost the entire area. "Yearrggh! Run away!"

I had a head start since I was lagging back…. but Lumia being a force like me was pretty slow when compared to Yut and Emilia.

"Help! Somebody!" She shouted as the giant snowball was catching up to her.

I didn't have time to think about it, even if I had the time to explain to Rose why she needed to activate my tech-man, I wasn't entirely sure what would stop this thing without exerting too much energy.

A large red glyph appeared in front of me as I ran towards Lumia. And to my surprise, what emerged was that large red demon looking creature Yut summoned back at that heritage site.

"Hold on!" I shouted as I got ready to fire.

As the beast swung its fist towards the ball Lumia ducked underneath it. The second the beast's fist had touched the ball was blasted away in several chunks in the other direction. The tiny shards that gently fell around us made it look like it was snowing.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I extended a hand.

"Yeah…" She took my hand but she didn't look very pleased for someone who was just saved.

Not that expected anything from a guardian.

"Playing in the snow is a blast, huh, Lumia," Yut said as he walked towards us.

"Fun… Right, how come you aren't scared?" She replied. Emilia let out a little chuckle.

"It's better not to question it," I replied.

Suddenly more seed appeared around us from where the giant ball of snow came from.

Unlike that dark mirage blast, this attack only drained my energy, and my body still hadn't recovered.

"Sorry, you guys can handle this, right-" As I said that I realized they already ran off to face them. "Yeah… good… I'll be here… go, team…" I took a moment to catch my breath.

Once they were done facing them we moved on forward.

"Hey, nobody said anything about fighting Seed-Forms! What's going on?!" Said Emilia.

"I don't know any more than you!" Said Lumia. "The Seed were contained three years ago- this doesn't make sense!"

"Looks like somebody botched the containment job."

"My brother… my brother would not make such a mistake!"

As much as I loved it when Emilia belittled the Guardians, the hero, and specifically Lumia… I wasn't really in the mood to laugh. The seed was what I was most concerned about. The last time I've seen an actual seed was in a hive. 3 years before.

"Right now I'm more worried about that wall than your brother. Does something about it seem a little off to you?" She asked.

"Huh? What" I shook my head and turned towards them.

"The wall? It looks normal enough." Said Lumia.

"Don't you feel it?" Yut asked. "It's… different."

"I think you're right…" Emilia took a second to look at the wall. "Of course! They did a good job camouflaging it, but it's just a holographic projection!"

"She's right…" I rubbed the rim of my goggles.

"How could you tell?" Lumia's eyes widened.

"The shift in the colour pattern's just a little too regular to be natural. With a holograph, this complex breaks in the feed aren't exactly a surprise. Well, I'd say we found our missing people." She said as she walked towards the holographic wall with Yut.

"It's like talking to a different person. Who is this girl?"

"Someone very de… ahem, special." I replied.

"Apparently so, but that hardly begins to explain her analytical prowess." She said.

"Hmm… I've been wondering about that myself. Though, her past isn't something I'd into pry into behind her back… I mean, I have some secrets myself…"

"Her past?"

"Ahem! If you two are done gossiping, we've got some investigating to do!" Said Emilia. "I'm going, with or without you!"

Emilia and Yut marched off.

"I suppose we should get going, she sounded serious," I said as I followed them.

"Wait!" Lumia called out. "Who are you? You're not using a module, how did you do that?"

"You can tell?" I turned to her as she nodded her head, "To tell you the truth, I have no clue. It's more like… never mind. I doubt a Guardian like you would understand."

"What do you have against the Guardians?!"

"I'll answer all of your questions… If you can answer mine, Why are you out here, Alone? And why are you really following us?" I asked… Not that I actually planned on telling her anything.

She let out a little groan and remained silent…

"Confidentiality?" I asked. "Hmm… I see."

It didn't take much effort to come to a conclusion from there…

"Heh, It's kinda outta character for me to talk so much. Come on, let's get going." I smirked as I went on ahead.

Our search took us into this icy case filled with monsters. The further we entered the fuzzier our communications got. Eventually, I was cut off from Rose's signal, meaning my tech-mag was completely locked off, and I couldn't reactivate it without her permission.

This being on a mountain, the enemies had adapted to the environment, making my icy sword somewhat useless. That along with the fact I couldn't use techniques made me all but useless.

Once we were out of that damn cave we've found ourselves into what looked like a mineshaft.

"What is this place?" Emilia asked.

"A safe bet this isn't the work of the Moatoob Trade Alliance. Who would put this here?" Said Lumia replied as she went off to look around on her own.

"Hmm…" Emilia stroked her chin. "The logic pattern in the photon feed- it's just like the one in Inhelt labs. You think this installation might have something to do with Inhelt."

"You might be onto something…" I replied.

"We can't rule it out, that's for sure." She said. "It's hard to imagine logic patterns matching up like this by coincidence."

Lumia returned after a brief investigation of the place.

"Find anything?" Emilia asked.

"No. There's nothing indicating who might have built it. No sign of the missing people, either. We'll have to keep looking further in."

"Why is what we're looking for always further in?" Emilia sighed in frustration. "On we go, I guess."

As we followed the rail we've stumbled upon more seed. A good indication we were headed the right way. It didn't take long for the tracks to take us to this strange facility.

The second we've entered we were met with a few synths blocking the way.

"What are they guarding back there?" Said Emilia. "I get the feeling they want us to turn back."

"This just means we're headed the right way," I replied, happy to finally see a FIRE enemy. I've eagerly struck the bots with my blade and moved on ahead.

The next room we were met with was a wide empty space guarded by a single large synth, that sort of looked like a small mech suit.

The synths had let out a burst of fire from its arms, we've stepped back to avoid the flames.

"Ugh! What a pain…" Emilia muttered. "If you don't want someone to find something, hide it!"

She shouted as she attacked the robot with Barta freezing its feet in place.

The robot began to launch missiles towards us. The moment they've touched anything it wasn't like they exploded it was more like they lit everything around them on fire. I think you'd call it an incendiary round but I'm not too familiar with the terms myself.

I wasn't too afraid of them… the flames at least, getting hit with the missile itself hurt like you wouldn't believe.

"Emilia!" I spoke with her through my goggles across the room. "Activate your visor, there's a program called V-Force, It's like a tutorial to learning new techniques, this synth is Vulnerable to Electric attacks, so I need you to look into the technique Zonde."

"Got it!" She replied.

"Lumia, Electric attacks, Yut… Do your thing!" I ordered.

As Lumia shot bolts of electricity at it, the bot had stomped it's way out of the ice and jumped back before launching more missiles towards her. She countered by switching zonde with another technique that appeared above the bot and struck down, only the bot didn't need to do much other than jump to the side.

Robots like this were always annoying with how they can predict what we're going to cast. I suppose they'd have some defensive measure against what they're weak against. Suddenly Yut appeared behind it and jumped on it's back and just started smacking it with his weapon.

The Robot started to spin around while spitting fire. Yut seemed to be having a blast just sitting up there.

"Emilia? You've figured it out yet?" I asked.

"Yeah! I think so!"

"Alright! Together now! Leave no room for him to dodge!"

As they got ready to strike Yut jumped off but not before bashing it once more with his spear.

Once he was off the two shot several large bolts of electricity at the machine. It didn't take long for their attacks to start devastatingly affecting the robot. The synth suddenly burst in flames as if fell to the floor.

Despite not doing much fighting I was downright exhausted.

"First the Seed… now synths" Emilia groaned. "What the heck's going on?"

"Someone is trying very hard to keep us from finding whatever's here." Said Lumia. "This is where we lost contact with the team If there are any clues to what happened. They must be up ahead."

Our ears perked at what slipped out of her mouth.

"Hold on a sec. Lost contact with the team? Are you here trying to find someone too?" Emilia asked.

Lumia let out a sigh.

"I get it. So Little Wing isn't the only one around here with missing agents."

And thus my suspicion was confirmed.

".Can't say I blame the Guardians for not announcing the fact their people have gone missing. How embarrassing!" Emilia said with a snide grin.

"Enough! Can we keep moving, please?" Lumia walked off in a huff.

"Wait! Hey!" Emilia chased after her.

"Heh, Kids these days have so much energy…" I chuckled as I followed them.


	15. 5th Universe: An Encounter Across Time 2

I've wandered through what now seemed like an underground cavern, the others had run off on their own and somehow I've lost them.

"Yut?! Emilia?!" I called out with my saber in hand. With the seed confirmed to be around, I was a little on edge.

"Agh… Where are they?" I groaned when suddenly I noticed someone stumbling towards me.

"Hey, You're… Little Wing, right?" As I took a step forward the man rose up his arm with a gun in hand.

"Guys! There's another one!" 2 rangers lead by a hunter appeared behind me as 2 forces came to the man's side.

"What are you doing?!" I took a step forward, then I heard the sound of a gun going off. They landed a direct hit on my chest but the shot was deflected by my shield-weave. I winced in pain as I put my hand on my chest. At this point, I was missing my coat.

"Son of a… Fine, if that's how it is…" I boosted the power within my blade and dashed towards them as they continued to fire their weapons, the techniques were easy to block but trying to dodge those guns was another story altogether.

Once I've reached the ranger I've struck my blade across his chest… except, when I've boosted the effect I've lowered the damage output, so instead of killing them I've managed to trap him into a frozen state.

Taking out the two forces was somewhat more troublesome… They had about the same resistances as me so I needed to produce even more power within my sword to freeze them, which actually required more… mental discipline than I currently had… or Mindpower.

I made a run for it as they fired their weapons at me, the hunter was right on my heels. The Little WIng hunter leaped towards me with his long-sword in hand, as he closed in on me I quickly turned around and blocked his attack with my saber only to be knocked down onto the floor. My shield-weave had been breached leaving me momentarily defenceless…

The fear that surrounded each and every one of them, I felt every bit of it. Fear that was directed towards me. But why? "Grr…" I shut my eyes as I braced for impact as the man lifted his sword over his head.

But there was no impact, when I opened my eyes I saw a purple CAST holding up a shield in front of me. "May…?" I gasped as I stared up at the cast.

She pushed back the hunter and shooting him with the pistol in her right hand. The hunter held his chest as he fell to one knee.

She put her gun back into its holster.

"Get up and Run!" She pulled me up as the Rangers came rushing to their ally's side guns blazing. Once I was up to my feet I've run off in the other direction.

And once I was in the clear I took a moment to rest.

According to my goggles, my shield-weave had been deactivated, so I needed to work on that. But I had no clue how to reactivated it, so I ran a quick diagnosis. Which lead to an auto-repair option.

May had finally caught up with me.

I leaned back against the cave wall and asked…

"Why are you here?"

"No thank you?"

"No… Now answer my question." I said with a firm voice.

Judging from what I've heard she should have no possible way of knowing this place was here. So, she either had ties to the Guardians or she was following us here… those were the two conclusions I've come to…

That or she was working for Inhelt… in turn potentially the ancients.

The fact she didn't answer her call earlier was a little concerning…

"I've come to investigate, that's all I could say." She turned her gaze away from me, it was clear she wasn't going to give me what I wanted.

"Have any idea why they're attacking us?" I asked.

"They seem to think that we're the Seed… Speaking of which, You've run into them on your way here, no?"

"Guess you can say that," I recall getting surrounded. "So, why do they think that?"

"That's the big question, isn't it?" She shrugged.

"One more question…" I stroked my chin.

"Hmm?"

"Why aren't you trying to attack me? Like them?" I asked as I glared at her.

"Could be because I'm a Cast, or perhaps the circumstances were different… Maybe they're brainwashed. Hard to say." She said.

"Alright, my turn… You're not here alone, Right?" She asked.

"No, I came here with a small team. We got separated." I saw no real reason to lie but saw no real reason to give out too much information, not while she was keeping her cards close to her chest. And if there was even a hint of a possibility that she was involved in this, I couldn't trust her.

One problem I've always had with casts was that I couldn't feel any emotion behind their voices making them harder for me to read, though they could project a certain emotion like joy or sadness, I was never sure that they felt anything. At least, not until I've met my partner.

"There he is!" I've heard Yut's voice down the hall as he ran towards us at breakneck speed

"This one of yours?" May smirked as she eyed the boy.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Who are you? Are you a friend of Sai?" Yut asked she turned her head to me.

"I guess you can say that." She said. "Well, I got the info I needed so, I'll leave this place to you guys." She said as she walked away. I didn't have any reason to stop her

Even if she were working for them, I would rather avoid an unnecessary fight.

But, that was just the worst case scenario, best case scenario, she actually tracked some missing people here and managed to rescue a few before we came.

Emilia and Lumia came running up behind Yut out of breath

Emilia placed her hands on her hips and scowled at us.

"Where have you been?"

"Uh, sorry?" I laughed nervously but suddenly felt a jab to my side followed by another.

"Agh! Emilia! Stop!" I tried to grab her arms as she continued to punch me. I tried to explain how I wasn't trying to go off on my own and just got turned around.

"Guys?" Lumia cut in between us, saving me from taking any more damage. "Can you save this for later? We still have work to do."

"Y-yeah, let's do that…" I let out a short breath of relief.

"Fine, come on Yut." She said as she walked away.

"Thanks for that," I said to Lumia.

"Just try not to fall behind again." She scoffed before following the others.

I let out a light growl as I lagged behind.

"She didn't have to hit me so hard," I mumbled to myself as I put my hand over the bruise on my arm she had left. "I mean, Yut runs off all the time and I don't see him getting punched."

When I tried reaching into my coat for a Monomate I realized. I wasn't wearing my coat. I've really only used my nanotransistor for storing stuff I couldn't fit into my coat or important things I couldn't risk damaging. My coat being my "modus operandi" for carrying things, it always felt more natural for me.

I didn't really feel like now was a good time to ask my partner anything. For the rest of this mission, I've just been really careful not to get hit too much, all while trying just as hard not to kill anyone…

Despite my shield-weave back in working order, I've received quite a few scratches but as difficult as it got, I never asked the others for support, I've never struck down anyone. With my energy constantly being sapped by my blade, it made it even harder to keep up with the others.

"We are NOT the SEED! Do you get it?! Emilia shouted as we've neutralized the last wave of enemies.

"Nothing we say seems to get through to them." Said Lumia. "They must be under extremely powerful mind control of some kind. But why? Synthetics would be better for keeping intruders out…"

"Now that you mention it, that doesn't really make much sense… Maybe they're not being used as guards." I replied.

"Hey, I feel something-something close." Yut nervously tugged at his collar. "Like a stench on the wind. it's coming from inside. is it.. is it the Land-Mother? "

"Over there! Look!" Emilia pointed towards a crowd of Guardians in the distance.

"W-We can't beat that…" Said a man as he backed away from… nothing?

"I don't see anything." Said Lumia, as she turned towards Yut. "Do you have any idea what they're all excited about?"

"It's right there!" Yut pointed in the direction the crowd was facing.

And suddenly out of nowhere came this giant monster with 2 faces and axes for arms. The beast had swung its arms knocking away 2 of the guardians to the side as the others started to run away.

"Seed-Argine?!" Lumia's eyes went wide as she stared up at the monster.

"Did that thing appear out of thin air?" Emilia gasped. "Now I know I'm dreaming."

"More like a nightmare, really," I said as I glared at the monster.

"Ha. I wish… It'd sure make things easier if this was a dream, but things are never that easy." She let out a sigh. "Would anyone like to tell me why stuff like this keeps happening to me?!"

"No time to play the guessing game. Here it comes!" Said Lumia.

I scanned the monster…

SEED-ARGINE: DARK

"Don't get close! Use techniques!" I ordered. The monster had a barrier around its skin rendering physical attacks against it useless.

The beast had run directly towards us with each step stomping down heavily with each step.

"Yut! Use your bow to catch its attention! Keep him away from me and Lumia!"

"Er… okay! I'll try!" Yut said as he ran towards the beast.

"Emilia…Same goes for you, Help Yut and use your techs when you can! Lumia… just use everything you've got, we have to destroy that barrier."

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

"Nothing," I replied.

"What?!"

"There's nothing I can do… Now focus, we have to kill that thing before anyone else gets hurt!" I replied.

With Yut and Emilia's speed, they didn't have much issue playing the diversion as Lumia our heavy-hitting tech user used as much power as she could to destroy that damn barrier.

During the battle, I've sent bits of texts, instructions, to Emilia using my goggles, constantly feeding her information from my perspective of the battlefield.

 _\- "Emilia, Outside of its barrier it doesn't seem to have any special defences. But something is happening to its arms, in short, if you're hit with that axe it WILL tear through your shield-weave, be careful."-_

Despite our efforts, his barrier seemed to deflect all of their blasts, and whatever holes they did make into the barrier quickly repaired itself too fast for us to take advantage of it, and ice techniques

"Nothing we do it seems to be working…" Lumia sighed in frustration.

I felt my mind go blank as my vision faded into darkness.

"Nothing…" I mumbled quietly "Nothing…."

I held myself tightly as I collapsed to the ground.

The voices of my allies were drowned out as my conscientiousness faded away.

Suddenly I was surrounded by a flame.

Flames fueled by emotion, a flame that destroyed everything in its wake but… amongst the flames approached a humanoid seed completely unscathed.

She grabbed me by the throat and let out a wicked grin.

I struggled to break free but to no avail. The flames around began to die leaving the two of us in complete darkness… I was left with one question on my mind. I couldn't scream, but despite that, a single question escaped my lips.

"Where are you?"

"Cyruss!" Emilia's voice brought me to my senses.

In front of me was a sight I never expected to see.

The beast held back by a large burst of ice mere feet away from me, it's axe-like limb held back by a force's staff. Seed are creatures of darkness, the darkness within my heart had attracted it to me

"Lumia?" I sat there in shock.

"Run."

"Huh? Wait! what?"

"Are you listening?! I said go! If you're just going to get in the way then-"

Suddenly the monster's other arm broke free from the ice and flailed towards her but I quickly stood up and narrowly blocked the attack with my saber.

"You were saying?" I grinned as I struggled to hold it back. "So… uh? Any ideas, Guardian?"

"I'm working on it, get ready..." She said as the tip of her staff started to shine brightly.

"Heh, Alright, ready when you are."

Suddenly several beams of light continuously shot out of her staff and hit the beast at point-blank range, this technique was called Damgrant.

The monster leapt back as the light ripped through its shield, but as it did I slashed at the open space with my sword. The moment my blade made contact with its flesh it began to stumble back as the ice entered its body.

I briefly stopped and at that moment Lumia continued to move forward blasting that seed with another Damgrant creating another hole in its defence leaving another opening for me to strike at it once again.

The monster continued to stumble back as its reaction time gradually slowed down.

But something about this seemed familiar… the monster's attack spiked up drastically, it used it's power boost to force itself to break free from my swords effect and counter-attack us.

I quickly pushed Lumia out of the way and blocked the attack with my blade, though my block was successful, in the way of me not dying like I should have but I did take a lot of damage and I was sent flying back… I found myself down and out of this fight.

As I lied flat on my back I sent a quick message to the entire party.  
"Waber, you're in charge… Take care of them." I said as I let out a deep breath as I drifted off into a light sleep.

"I'm so tired of fighting... so why do I?" I wondered.  
"Why did I ever want to become a hero? If I knew the cost of such a dream...  
I would have never become a Guardian,  
You would have been paired up with someone else,  
Someone who wouldn't have dragged you down.  
Someone who might have been able to save you..."

"Though, I suppose I never would have met Emilia...  
But was it really worth it?"

I let out a little chuckle.  
I had a client, who told me where to wait.  
Even if I wasn't there, someone else would have been picked.

It wasn't out of the realm of possibility that they would have also been pushed down  
And trapped with Emilia.  
Anyone else... could have been in my position.  
And filled my role better than me.

Everything up 'till now has been pure chance.  
The man picking me out of several others.  
Me getting pushed down.

"Hey! Get up!" I heard Emilia's voice call out for me.

I woke up with my back seated against the cave wall, my coat wrapped around my shoulders.  
In front of me were Emilia and Lumia. Lumia had been casing some healing techniques on me as Emilia lightly shook me awake.

"Get up, We've beat it." She said.  
From their reaction, I knew I wasn't screaming.

"That's great…" I let out a yawn somewhat relieved. "But where's Yut?"

"Yut? He's…" We noticed Yut standing in the center of the room staring off deeper into the cave with a serious look on his face.

I got up and approached him with Emilia.

"Hey, Yut? You okay?" I asked.

"I feel it, I know I do! The Land-Mother is this way!" He said before dashing on ahead.

"Wait, Yut! Come back here!" Emilia called out.

"Go, I'll nurse the wounded." Said Lumia, as I looked around and saw the Guardians who've been trampled on by that beast… I got off easy compared to them.

"FInd him before he hurts himself…"

"You sure?" Emilia asked.

"I've analyzed the situation. It's the best course of action. If you don't hurry you'll lose him."

"Thanks!" Emilia smiled before running on ahead.

I stood still simply astonished as she tended to the other Guardians.

I let out a grin and followed after them.

We followed Yut to the end of the Cave and we reappeared on the mountainside.

When we got there Yut was knocked back towards us battered and bruised.

"Yut!" Emilia ran to his side. My eyes immediately locked onto the man in front of him.

This man defeated the kid, our hunter, without so much as a scratch on him.

"You again? You seem bent on dogging my heels." Said the man in an ice-cold tone.

"I know you're behind this!" Emilia looked up at the man and glared. "The missing people, the raids… it was all you!"

"I have no time to discuss such trivialities with you." He replied. I continuously snapped my fingers expecting something to come out of my tech-mag but all I got was a reminder in my goggles it was deactivated.

I gripped my sword tightly.

"You! You give it back!" Yut shouted as he struggled to get back up. "The Land-Mother belongs to the Kasch!"

"The Land-Mother….?" The man said with a sinister grin and chuckled.

"Ah, you must mean the Codex. Foolishness. The Codex was always ours. You would presume to claim it your own? You with your weak, mortal flesh."

I was ready to draw my sword, I wanted to fight him but, for some reason, my body wouldn't move. My hand began to tremble and my feet were frozen in place…

The twisted dark air that surrounded this man was similar to that woman…

It was suffocating… I felt like I was going to pass out right then and there.

"I know those words." Mika appeared in front of us. "You speak with the voice of an Ancient."

"Hmph." The grin on his face went away at the site of his fellow Ancient.

"So you choose to show yourself. Traitor."

"Our civilizations is ended. This time, these worlds… the labour of these people has made them what they are now. No one has the right to take that away from them." Said Mika.

The man let out a malevolent laugh.

"An age built on the foundation we laid for them! All this, all they've made-we are the true architects of their prosperity! The fruits of their labours are ours for the taking! When the glory of our age returns, all this will be swept away-like the consciousness of this feeble body."

"Then you leave me no choice. I will stop you by force if I must!"

"A funny notion, that. You would stand against me, the ruler of our ancient race? The body in which you dwell and all who surround it are weak."

I continued to glare at the man, my body still unable to shake off the fear. But the fact was… he was right.

"Consider well. The revival of our race is the destiny of Gurhal. Her chosen destiny!" He said as he turned away.

"Wait!" Mika called out.

"Don't worry. We will meet again soon. But by then it will already be too late!" And suddenly he disappeared without a trace.

Once he was gone I was able to move once again… I felt a strong mix of shame and helplessness fill my chest.

"What was he doing here, Mika?" Emilia asked.

"I don't know… But whatever it was is somehow connected to everything that's happened."

"I know he's been behind it. I just wish I knew what it was. And we're still not any closer to proving any of this than when we started." Emilia said frustrated.

"What about you, Yut? It looked like you'd been fighting him when we got here. Are you hurt?"

Yut was silently staring down at the ground.

"...Yut?" Emilia approached him.

"He beat me. I never had a chance." He said.

"I wouldn't let it bother you. He's just too powerful." Said Emilia.

"I need to face death. Then, I'll be strong… like my brother. Then I can beat him."

"And beating him is the only hope we have of stopping the Ancients' plan. Easier said than done. Did you see the way he moved."

Emilia turned to me.  
"But we have you on our side, right? You'll find a way to take him down!"

"Why? Why does she believe in me? How can she seriously turn to me and expect me to come up with an answer to solve our problems?" I thought to myself.  
"I can't do it…" I fell to my knees. "I'm just one man… I can't-."

"I didn't mean you had to fight him all by yourself." Emilia crouched down next to me and offered a hand.  
"But we could sure use your help."

I lifted my head.

"Can't have you doing all the heavy lifting, after all. You'll make a girl look bad."  
I stood back up and pulled myself together… though I still felt pretty helpless.

"Do your abilities really warrant such pessimism?" Said Lumia, as she approached us from behind.

"What exactly are you getting at?" Emilia asked.

"To put it simply, it's time you showed more self-confidence! On the one hand, you see through an elaborate holograph, while the other you complain that you're helpless!" Lumia said in a loud clear voice as she sized up against Emilia.

"What are you getting mad at me for?" Emilia was taken aback.

Not going to lie… Her yelling at Emilia's reaction sort of cheered me up a little.

"If you're trying to pay me a compliment, you could use a little work." She said.

"Let me finish! The fact is, I couldn't have found the people we were looking for on my own. SO I wanted to thank you. There, is that better?"

"You don't know when to shut up, do you?" Emilia scowled.

"And you do?"

Yeah, seeing them fight like that was what I needed to lift my spirits… oddly enough.

"My, look at the time. Let's get moving." Said Lumia.

No one seemed happier to leave the snowy mountains than Emilia, even with a coat she was likely freezing… Seriously though, I wish she read the mission terminal ahead of time and dressed appropriately… at least bring a pair of pants.

On the way back I tried not to think too hard about the man in black, but that was easier said than done.  
Yut and Emilia also had been pretty quiet themselves.

I couldn't believe I could have been so weak.  
The man in black was standing right in front of me and I just froze.  
Yut may have lost but at least he was able to try to fight.

As I tried to think the irritating sound of the communicator rang for what felt like the hundredth time.  
"Can someone pick up the phone?!" I shouted from the front seat.

"Hey, Boss. What's up-" Emilia answered the call and almost immediately Kraz's loud voice rang through the entire ship.

"It's about time you answered! Get down here and give me your report!"

I spun my chair around and stretched as I stood up. I let out a short yawn as I walked towards them.

"No need to get all fussy! We just got back. We're tired!" Said Emilia.

"You think I care?! I've been trying to get in touch for hours. Ever hear of returning your boss's calls?"

Emilia let out a sigh.

"See, we were in this place where we couldn't get a signal."

"Are you daft? That's why you check in BEFORE going someplace like that!"  
I let out a chuckle. It felt so weird to see Kraz so worried.

"Look, forget about it." He said. "Just get down here, would ya?"

"Right, Right," Emilia said as the connection closed.

We've entered offices where Kraz anxiously waited with arms crossed.  
The room was silent as the boss just silently eyed my partner.

"Uh, Boss? You mind not staring at me?" She said.

He let out a short subtle sigh of relief.

"Looks like you all came back in one piece. Guess I can overlook your communication shortcomings. Debriefing time. Our colleague you rescued didn't have any recollection of what happened to him."

"Just like the rest…" I muttered under my breath.

"Luckily you got there before he could do anything." Said Ursula. "But we still don't know why he was abducted in the first place."

"Um, about that…"

"What? You find something else down there?" He asked.

"Well, you see… We don't exactly have any proof, and you probably won't believe us, but…" Emilia remembered the last time we've tried to tell him something. She began to grow silent.

"Er, It's alright, Go on Em, tell him what happened," I said trying to be somewhat encouraging.

She took a deep breath and spoke.

"You remember that talk we had after the Kasch village was attacked, Boss?"

"Like it was yesterday. Subspace is bad… yada yada yada… something about Ancients Inhelt is bad… yada yada yada… a guy in black is behind it all." He replied. "That sum it up?"

"Pretty much," I replied.

"We found some sort of facility where the abductees were being held. Something I've never seen before. I think it belonged to Inhelt. The design, the logic patterns… it was a dead match."

"Say what now?"

"I don't have any hard proof, and I'm just going off what we saw when we were at Inhelt, but still…. Oh and I forgot the most important part! The man in black-he was there, too! The same one who attacked the Kasch! The missing people, the man in black, Inhelt… it's all connected! I just can't prove it yet."

Kraz silently lowed his head.

"Hellooo!" She said trying to get a response.

Kraz let out a short sigh as he rests his hands lazily on his hips.

"You realize Inhelt isn't exactly going to like being accused of any of this. And they'll make one heck of an enemy."

"I know. I wouldn't have said anything if I wasn't sure." She said.

"Figures…" He let out another sigh. "It never rains but it pours. Can I go ahead and tell'em, Ursula?"

"Be my guest. Stalling won't change anything." Said the boss's boss.

"Our parent company, Skyclad-they've cancelled their support of the subspace research program."

"Wow, that was fast…" I replied.

"We're not the only ones," Ursula added. "Other companies have been pulling out one after another. Which leave Inhelt as the sole subspace research firm."

"What? Why?!" Emilia asked.

"Turns out the subspace experiments were driving the native wildlife into a frenzy. You saw for yourself when you were at Inhelt, among other places." Said Kraz.

"What's more, the thoughts of anyone present when subspace is formed… become real." When Ursula said that my hearts stopped the mere idea that something can be created from thoughts was simply ridiculous… but we've seen it for ourselves.

"What do you mean their thoughts become real? How is that possible?" Emilia turned to me. "Hey, you think that's how the Seed we fought got there?"

"It must be…" I replied.

"I think you're right! So that whole facility was part of a subspace experiment?"

"Mind cutting us in on your little talk? What's all this about?" Kraz asked.

"See, it's like this…" She explained what we saw during our last mission.

"A Seed? Right out of thin air? Huh. The Seed are confined, so that leaves this…. thoughts becoming real, thing as our best explanation for now." Said Kraz.

"The fact that it vanished without a trace also matches the reports we've heard about the phenomenon." Said Ursula.

"Guess that means we have to believe her." Said Kraz.

"You mean it?!" Emilia's eyes shot wide open.

"If this man in black is behind it all, catching him would be the quickest way to clear things up. The connections with Inhelt are still pretty thin. Time we thickened 'em up a bit. You two should get some rest. Leave this to me."

"You really believe what I told you, Boss? Even without any proof?" Emilia said in a state of disbelief.

"For the last time, YES! Now get out of here and let me do my job!"

As we left the office Emilia stopped and turned back to me, Still pretty shocked about what just happened. "He really believed me… He sat there with a straight face, and he didn't even get upset. Well, not till the end anyway."

A slight smile formed on her face.

"It's kinda… weird. I don't know how to describe it, but it feels… it feels good."

"Hmm, I suppose this calls for a celebration, Let's get something to eat, on me."

"Alright, I'll go get Yut," she said as she ran off.

"What? Wait!" I tried to stop her but she was already gone.

"I'll miss being able to afford food… Me and my big mouth…"

"Did you hear that?" I spoke into my goggles but the link was still disconnected.

"Rose?"

I reconnected to the system but she didn't respond.

Not much I could do so I dipped into our savings and pulled out a little extra cash onto my card… then some more when I remembered who I was dealing with.

I went to wait for the others at the cafe.


	16. 5-6

I've ordered what I wanted and decided to let the other two order what they wanted.

I began to wonder how much Emilia got from her bonus. After she went shopping we've come here and Yut ate his weight in pudding…

it had only been a few days ago but it felt like it's been forever.

Once the others got here the table was covered in food. Emilia ordered a little bit of everything, I didn't think she would be able to eat so much…

Yut, on the other hand, stared blankly off into the distance despite the huge stack of pudding in front of him.

"Yut?" Emilia prodded him in the shoulder. The boy twitched and moved back in his seat defensively, the look in his eye, he looked like he was just an inch away from drawing his weapon.

He calmed down the moment he realized it was just Emilia.

The boy's anger quickly turned to shame as he hung his head.

"Sorry," he said. It was clear he was still thinking about the man in black.

I wanted to ask him about the mirage blast but this didn't seem like the right time...

If we went out for training, I was certain he'd go running off on his own, and I was too exhausted to deal with that.

"I'm gonna turn in early…" I said.

As I passed Emilia I whispered, "Keep an eye on him." Though, I left before she could actually respond… because, I really didn't know how to deal with an upset Yut, and I was afraid that if I've given her the opportunity to complain I'd have stayed there longer then I would have been comfortable with.

Once back in my room I've lied down on my neatly made bed- Rose had done some cleaning while I was gone, though I wasn't in there very often, still it was good to come back to a clean room. Speaking of which, the little bot was nowhere in sight.

I took a minute to write her a report of what happened after we've lost contact and went to bed.

 _My dream was nothing._

 _I was simply floating in a dark empty space._

 _It wasn't all that different from death._

 _The air around me was cold and lonely._

 _Not a single source of light in sight._

I woke up to the sharp high pitched noise of the visiphone… It was a text that was sent to my goggles. The first thing that caught my eye was who it was addressed to.

 _"To Cyruss"_

 _Meet me in the cafe…."_

 _\- X_

Whoever sent this knew my real name… I've never really introduced myself as "Cyruss" to anyone and the paperwork Rose sent into Little Wing was sighed as "Sai", that's even what it said on my partner card…

"hold on a second!" My entire body went cold at the sudden realization. Emilia said my name during our last mission during our fight with that seed.

"It's a Guardian…" I said as I stared wide-eyed at the message in front of me.

"Are you sure?" Rose's voice made me Jump. I turned to the little robot sitting on the desk.

"Rose?! Where have you been?"

"I was busy, but more importantly, what do you think they want?" She pumped her fists in front of her chest with a serious expression.

"Well, we won't find out by sitting here, besides… I've done nothing wrong." I said…

"Try not to worry about it, alright?" I crouched down and placed my hand on her shoulder and smiled warmly to comfort her…

Though I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wasn't afraid of getting punished, rather it was the anxiety of facing the Guardians again.

I took a deep breath as I left my room. When I entered the cafe I saw a man, a beast with bat eats, with grey hair. He appeared to be older than me, but not by much. The man sat alone in the center of the large booth with his arms spread out along the seat and his feet on the table.

"You the one involved with finding our missing people?" He asked.

"What do you want?" I crossed my arms.

"There's still quite a few of our people unaccounted for and I want your help to find them." He said.

"Sorry, I was just cutting down monsters. Who you want is someone named, Emilia… I'm sure she would just be thrilled to help you out. She's a HUGE fan of the Guardian." I replied.

As I walked away the man said

"Perhaps this will get your attention."

I stopped and turned at the table, the man pulled out a card.

When I looked at it my eyes widened and I was stopped in my tracks.

"H-How did you-"

He stood up and walked out but as he walked past me he said. "As you can see… We have A LOT to talk about… Sai. I'll be waiting."

And then he was gone.

I took a piece of candy out and bit down on it, The little ball blew spread across my mouth in a dusty power with an overwhelming sour taste with a sweet aftertaste.

As I left the cafe I ran into Yut who had a big smile on his face.

"There you are!" He said as he looked up at me.

"What? Did you need something?"

Tonnio ran up from behind.

"He's just caught wind on his tribe," He explained.

Liina slowly walked up from behind… she looked a little off, I wasn't sure why but she seemed kind of sickly and Tonnio seemed completely oblivious to this… but that wasn't any of my business, so I ignored it.

"Hmm, How did they find him here?" I asked.

"They didn't. It's more like someone left an anonymous tip, and we're going to check it out." Said Tonnio.

"Come on! Let's go!" Yut said excitedly.

An anonymous tip sounded a little too fishy for my liking.

"Sorry, I'm busy with another job I've gotta do… But go find Emilia, I'm sure she'd be glad to help." I had to see what that man really wanted.

"Oh, Okay!" Yut ran off to go find her. I almost felt bad for Liina who had to keep up with that in her condition.

"Rose? Would you mind keeping an eye on them?" I asked though all she would have been able to do was sit and watch. Just having someone keep tabs on their activity couldn't hurt. I took a deep breath and braced myself for whatever was in store for me.

This was the first time I've been on a mission without Emilia since I've "joined" Little Wing.

It was a little… weird.

When I stepped on the mission site there was a heavy breeze that blew the snow around violently. Anyone trapped inside would be in serious danger of freezing to death if they've stayed there for too long, regardless of whether they were a force or not.

"There you are! You've sure took your time." He mocked with a stupid grin on his face.

"Let's get moving, I reeeaaaally don't wanna be out here longer than I have to."

As he turned away I quickly grabbed onto his sleeve.

"Hold it! That card."

"That stuff can wait till we get out of the snow, learn to be a little patient. We still have people to search for." He forcefully pulled back his arm out of my grasp.

We've trudged through the snow as quickly as we could, this was more difficult seeing as we've been walking uphill. Luckily there wasn't a whole lot of monsters out in this weather.

We've arrived at the area where a giant snowball fell, though this time, dozens of smaller ones continuously rolled down without end. "Looks like we'll have to find a way-"

And he was already running on ahead, passing each and every ball rolling down.

"Show off…" I scoffed.

I walked up the hill while continuously shot fire from my tech-mag to make a path until I reached the top of the hill. The man had already walked on ahead.

I panted heavily as I pushed onward through the storm.

Just before we've reached the cave, I've received a call from Rose, though by this point communications were getting kind of fuzzy.

"Rose? What is it?" I asked.

"Cyr- It's - ne"

"I can't hear you," I said as I tried to boost the connection.

"She-ive!"

"I'll talk to you when I get back…" I said before closing the call unsure if she actually heard me. Regardless, My connection went offline shortly after that.

"Who're you talking to?" The man asked as I entered the cave.

"Just my partner machine…" I replied.

"A Partner machine? You mean those robotic pets? The ones that organize your schedule?" He looked at me with a blank stare.

"Got a problem with that?" I glared at the man, though he let out a slight grin.

"It's just kind of strange is all, partner machines are tools, I find it odd you'd talk with it over the com like that."

I snapped my fingers releasing several balls of fire towards the man, who quickly rolled out of the way and pulled out a small pistol with a calm and composed grin.

"Call her a tool one more time, I dare you!" I raised up my arm and pressed my fingers together.

"Ha… I wouldn't expect you of all people to care so much. but Fine…" He let out a snide laugh. As he withdrew his weapon."Alright, lead the way."

I grit my teeth as I followed him.

We've passed through the cave and entered the place that looked like a mineshaft. The Guardian took a minute to look around the area much like Lumia did when she was here.

"So what does a Guardian want with me?" I asked.

"Not the Guardians, Me…" He said as we continued walking. "Honestly, you weren't the only one who had gone missing for the past 3 years… As far as they are concerned, you're dead."

"W-what are you talking about?" The last bit had me sort of relieved, what I wanted to know was why the others who went missing. The man stopped and took a deep breath.

"A lot has happened shortly after you've left..." He said before moving on ahead.

"Wait! We're not finished talking!" I chased after him until we've wound up in the cavern where we were attacked by our own people.

"They should be around here somewhere, we should split up and search-"

"Hold it! What were you talking about?!" The man turned back to face me.

"We'll talk after we find those people, after all… Once we're finished talking there's nothing stopping you from running off on your own, right? As you know we're a little short-handed at the moment, and I needed to speak with you… By inviting you here, I'm killing two birds with one stone."

"I see…" I hate this guy.

"One more thing! You called me Sai, but in your message you said Cyruss."

"Lumia's report said " _S-A-I"_ If that's what's eating at you… by the way, real creative name ." He mocked.

"You're one to talk… _X"_ I retorted.

"At least it does the job and hides who I am… and if I may ask, why are you so eager to hide your name?"

"That's none of your business," I replied, not knowing how else to respond.

"Oh well…" He exhaled as he continued to walk. "We'll have more time for talking once this is all over. So do try and hurry it up, Neither of us want to be here any longer than we have to.."

The man went deeper into the cavern and I went off in the other direction and thought about everything that happened leading up to now.

 **(Recap +)**

After 3 years of isolation, I've stepped back into the world.

I've entered the relic site where I waited for a client who never came… though a part of me knows I would have entered the site regardless of whether they've come or not.

Suddenly, the place started shaking and everyone ran towards the exit. I was pushed down and trampled over, and that was when I've met Emilia. I've wanted to go deeper into the cave… Seeing as there weren't many other options.

Emilia tried to stop me but ended up joining me.

After a long walk, we made it to this technical room where we were faced with this sentinel. Eventually, we've defeated it, at least we thought we did… The sentinel had risen back up and attacked Em, but before it could hurt her I ran in and pushed her out of the way.

I heard her voice as my vision began to fade… Her tears dripped across my cheek.

We hardly knew each other and she was crying for me, she wished me back to life… as corny as that sounds.

When I was ready to give up, she picked me back up.

Shortly after joining Little Wing, Mika appeared before me and gave me the situation… I didn't believe she was real, but I still listened.

Then we were assigned a job, er, more of a chore, really.

To hunt down that man who owed the boss some cash. While looking for that man we've met Tonnio and Liina. They didn't recognize me… come to think of it, I did grow quite a bit. But anyways.

That was probably when I've decided to hide my identity… decided might be the wrong word. It's more like I've acted on an impulse. I felt this strong sense of shame, I couldn't face them… that shame turned to anger, anger that made it harder for me to work with them.

But I bit my tongue and swallowed my pride and let them join the party…

After a lot of walking… and riddle solving… we've made it to the end, Then we've discovered Emilia had a certain talent. She had this analytical ability that far surpassed the average person.

Then we were attacked by Yut, who managed to defeat the 3 of us… but Emilia did fend him off briefly before running back behind us. That was when I discovered she was learning from our past tries.

I've stood against him on my own hoping she would find a way to defeat him… looking back, that was a stupid and self-destructive idea, seeing as I knew I would lose. Emilia then saved me by formulating a plan with Tonnio and Liina.

I probably deserved that slap across the face.

Tonnio and Liina left to take Yut back to the ship, and me and Emilia were sent to find the Kasch village. Once we did we encountered the man in black, who defeated me in one flail swoop. Just when I thought Emilia was done for she was saved by Mika.

The Man in black retreated and Emilia passed out… I was revived by Liina and Tonnio who just made it on the scene. I was about to go after the man in black but Liina convinced me to stay with Emilia.

When that was over I brought the unconscious kids, Yut and Emilia, back to the office. Once Emilia woke up we've talked about what happened… and Mika revealed herself to us.

After hearing the situation, Emilia had resolved that she would get stronger… I was afraid.

I thought she would just end up like every other "hero"…

I was ready to give up and throw my life away in an attempt to kill the man in black knowing well that I wouldn't survive.

I had no hope, and I wanted to crush hers', it seemed more merciful.

But she beat me and passed my test… Still unsure, I've followed her in her quest. But as long as she fought it was my job to protect her.

We went to tell the boss out the impending doom, but he didn't believe us… I can't say I blame him. Emilia sounded downright crazy. After losing all credibility with him, we were sent on another assignment to the Inhelt lab.

Our job was to kill all the Astarks in the first sector, during that job I've got a, not so appealing, scar across my face that I covered up using some goggles.

Almost immediately after that, we were tasked with another job, eliminate the synthetic leader that was causing all the other bots to go crazy.

I still can't get over the fact that Emilia figured out the problem before there own scientist, even a dolt like me could have figured out the problem with the information that guy knew.

After finishing our mission, we've returned back to the office where the boss, overjoyed with our results, given Emilia a bonus.

Later that day the Yut woke up and Emilia fed him some pudding to cheer him up. That was when she gave me that stuffed doll… Not exactly my type of thing but it's the thought that counts, I suppose… Speaking of which.

After an attack on the base, Kraz pissed her off by throwing out a present she got for him. Though, he couldn't put two and two together and thought it was a piece of trash.

After some training, we were assigned another job.

This time we were on security detail for a subspace experiment… I think. All I know is that our objective changed and we needed to head to this place owned by the Communion of Gurhal… Or was that place called the Communion? Not important!

We were tasked to find this place invaded by monsters.

There I've had the pleasure of meeting a Guardian by the name of Lumia Waber… who made a worse first impression than Emilia.

And my list of reasons to hate her only grew the longer we've worked together…

That was until we've been faced against a 2 headed dragon.

She proved that she has… some heart.

We've beaten the dragon and returned to the office where Emilia was in for a huge surprise.

We were summoned to the CEOs office when the lights opened and everyone shouted surprise. Emilia's eyes widened with confusion.

Though it didn't take long for her to start enjoying her party. I didn't really stay too long… I've given her a gift and… subtly made my way out of the room.

Our next assignment took us to find some missing people.

Nothing too important happened, We've found some clues leading to inhelt being responsible for the abductions, and met the man in black himself. Lumia also happened to appear in search for her own people.

The Man in Black had defeated Yut before we've arrived. Luckily, other than his pride, Yut was mostly unharmed.

Just by looking at him, we were able to see the difference in power between him and us.

We've returned home and this sense of defeat hadn't completely gone away…

I've got a call from a Guardian who called himself "X".

The moment I got that call, I've felt my despair worsen. I was afraid this would have been connected to my past…

And so I've met him, and he offered me some work…

I felt relieved until the man pulled out that card.

And that's everything.

 **(End Recap -)**

I've managed to find some people trapped behind some rubble. I was able to free them using Rafoie to destroy the rocks. They seemed to have calmed d own for the most part and hadn't attacked me. There was a beast woman standing next to a man as a Cast behind them protected the unconscious Newman woman.

"Who are you?!" The woman asked aggressively with her weapon in hand.

"The name is… Cy-Cy…" I thought I was ready to say my name but wimped out halfway,  
"Just call me Sai… Is she alright?" I asked.

"I think so… She's been like this for a while now. We've used what we've had but she won't wake up."

"Move!" I've walked passed them and approached the woman on the cold cave floor.

"She's alive… but, barely…"

"Then- Heal her!" Shouted the woman. "That's a tech-mag, right? You can-"

"There was nothing my healing would do…" I told her. "There's a certain line a person could never come back from and this girl had long since passed it."

When I said that I've felt the sudden shock come from the 3 behind me…

I felt a sharp pain in my chest as one of them pushed me to the side. The Human and Beast started to cry as the Cast stared down sadly at the body.

"She's not dead yet, right?" A familiar voice said behind us.

"Huh? X" It was him but he wore a long scarf to cover face along with a long hood. I didn't understand why he would want to stay hidden from the other guardian. Or why he'd reveal his face to me.

"You guys can't all give up while there's still hope!" The man stepped forward towards the group. "We're all getting out of here! She's fighting to live even now! Fighting to see you all again! Are you just going to abandon her here?!"

"You're right… She's going to wake up!" Said the man who asked the woman to carry her.

"Just hang on…" The woman whispered.

"I've set a marker, go left and wait for us there…" He handed them some medical supplied. "Use these to keep her stable… and don't stop talking! Let her hear your voices!"

As they left X approached me.

"It's my fault she's dead isn't it?" I sighed.

"Weren't you listening, she isn't dead! You've said so yourself." He argued.

"Besides, If I blamed you, I'd be blaming Lumia… If, You've abandoned her like you were going to, then yes… you could be blamed."

"Gr..." I didn't know how to respond. That woman was as good as dead in my eyes, and that was my burden to bare.

"Speaking of which, You know your partner is officially labelled M.I.A, Right?" He said.

"I… saw her die. She's not coming back… was that all you wanted to say?" I said.

"Heh, Just like that woman?" The man let out a sigh. "I can't believe president Laia trained you…"

"Wait- President? What happened to Dallgun?!" I asked.

"I'm surprised you didn't hear…" He said.

"Hear what?"

"President Dallgun is dead-"

"Dead?!"

"Not long after you've vanished, the illuminus attacked… And the colony crashed down into Parum, Everything was hell all over… Casts started going crazy and Moatoob was in total anarchy. And no one trusted the Guardians… Many of us were either dead or missing. Leaving the few of us still standing to hold the fort together."

"Er… I… had no idea…"

"Hmm… of course not, you were to busy wallowing in self-pity…" He growled. "Seeing you now… I'm certain, you just gave on her!"

"No…" I faded face entered my mind.

"You never SAW her die! Did you?!" He circled around me.

"I did… did I?" I thought to myself as I held onto the side of my head. I dug deeper into my memory but everything was a blur.

"She believed in you… she trusted you to protect Gurhal! And you ran!"

"No…" I held onto myself.

"We were left to fend for ourselves! You thought you could become a hero! And as soon as it got tough you turned your back on us! "

"No!" I felt something within my chest build up as I fell to my knees. A dark glyph appeared beneath my feet and a dark figure appeared above me. Before I knew it, my sword was drawn and I attacked him.

I've heard the sound of sword meeting sword and before I knew it I was knocked flat on my back and the shadow looming above me went away.

"Looks like the reports were off… or outdated? Nothing appeared… Aw, I was hoping I'd get a chance to see this rumour for myself." He said calmly.

"You… what?" I sat back up.

"Remember when I said I wanted to kill two birds with one stone? Yeah, I was aiming for a third bird… You can go home, The evac should be here soon to take care of the inured."

"Son of a…" I growled.

"Well, two isn't so bad… I've saved some of our people, and I got to see what kind of person her partner was… and you're more pathetic than I've imagined… I suppose you're dying to know my connection to her, aren't you."

He approached me with a sinister grin. Whoever this guy was, he hated my guts.

"I was helping out some of the scientists who were creating her… but the next time we met, she didn't recognize me with her memory erased…"

I struggled to get back up.

"I was in the academy, My final exam was pushed back a couple of weeks… The next time I saw her, she was already a Guardian, and behind her was her new partner. We've exchanged partner cards, more as a sign of friendship than an invitation to join her in battle… I was still in the academy after all."

"So… Did you care about her?" I asked.

"Of course." He said softly. "Which is why I'm going to ask you one thing… Will you rejoin the Guardians?"

"What?!" I didn't understand.

"If you wanna make up to her and us, then you should come back… I'm sure they'd be glad to have you."

"That's a joke, right? You know they were going to scrap her, right? Even if she did survive… The Guardians would have taken her away…"

"Did she know this?" He asked… I didn't respond.

"Did she curse the Guardians for their "betrayal?" Or did she accept her fate? The Guardians goal is to protect Gurhal… And that was hers, wasn't it? That's why she "Died", right?" He asked.

I didn't respond.

"Hold your grudges, but when you decide to man up, we'll be waiting…" He said as he left.

It was a long ride home…

I've returned to my room where Rose looked at me with an excitable expression.

"Cyruss!" She said with a smile as I trudged towards my bed and fell face first.

"Cyruss?" She looked more concerned.

"You knew, didn't you?" I asked.

"About what?"

"The Guardians' colony…"

"Oh…" She looked away.

"If I didn't run, would I have been able to do something? If she and I had never met… would I be able to save more people? Or would I have died along with the rest? Maybe that would be for the best…" I turned my head to her. "Oh, was there something you wanted to tell me?"

"uh… no." She replied hastily obviously hiding something… though I didn't really care. I just let out a deep breath.

I took a box of candy out of my coat and realized there was none left, so I've decided to go down to the cafe and get some more… good thing that Guardian had paid me something for my work.

I've bought 3 boxes from the cafe and as I left I ran into Emilia and Yut.

"Hey!" She said but her expression turned sour. "You look terrible, did something happen?"

"You could say that…" I let out a sigh. "Did anything happen with you guys."

"Well… we got to meet the Traveller Yut kept talking about." She said.

Yut stared at me intently.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"You and the Traveller…" He said.

"Not this again…" I groaned. "I don't know anyone alive like that."

"Hmm" Emilia eyed me. "Now that you mention it-"

"Not you too…" I walked away.


	17. 6th Universe: Dream's End

I lied in my bed, Rose sat there on the desk, her usual spot with her eyes closed. The room was dark, the only light source being the stars outside the window. Until the sound of the visiphone went off and the light of my goggles shone and I heard Kraz's voice.

"It's me. Hate to bother you, but would you mind stoppin' by? Something I want to talk about." And with that, the call was cut. I got out of bed and let out a deep breath.

"I-I still have a job to do… Wallowing around here won't do me any good…" I said trying to motivate myself to get a move on.

I met up with everyone else in the office.

With Emilia being the last to arrive shortly after I did.

"Ah, there you are," said Kraz.

"What's the scoop on Inhelt?" She asked as soon as she entered the room.

"Take it easy, we'll get to that. First things first."

"Inhelt is about to hold an emergency press conference. It's going to be broadcast live any minute now. I expect they'll announce efforts to find new sponsors and lay out their plans, Chelsea, could you turn on the news?" Ursula turned our attention to the TV.

"Oui Oui." Chelsea turned on the TV and coincidentally the news had just started. Starting with Hal's usual Gurhal Channel 5 news intro before bringing us the news.

 _Hal: "Today we bring you a special report! Subspace research efforts have come under fire recently, with many sponsors withdrawing their support. For a closer look, we go now to Inhelt's press conference, with Inhelt CEO Natsume Shu and his son, Shizuru Shu."_

As the camera tilted up revealing their faces. Yut and Emilia stared up at the screen shocked at who we've found standing right next to the president. "Aiiieee!"Emilia let out a scream that had my ears ringing.

I wasn't terribly surprised seeing as we knew Inhelt had a hand in whatever what was happening… or at least, they were our prime suspect.

"What are you yelpin' about? I can hardly hear the news over that racket!" Kraz shouted, ironically preventing the rest of us from hearing the news.

Yut pointed at the Man in Black. "He's the one who stole the Land-Mother! He's one of the bad guys!"

"Come again?" Ursula said as we've turned our attention to the kids.

"It's him! I'm sure it's him!" She joined Yut in pointing out the man on the monitor.

"You've got eyes-he's the one, right?" She turned to me.

"No doubt about it… He's our man." I said in a flat and unsurprised tone.

"The man in black is… Shizuru Shu!" She said with that determined look in her eye she had. I raised a brow.

"Let's take a step back," Kraz said trying to calm the kids down.

"Your man in black is the son of Natsume Shu? The same man in black who's behind all the missing persons? Who attacked the Kasch village and our colony?"

"That's right!" She said.

"They all agree. Seems a bit much for coincidence. What do you think, Kraz?" Said Ursula.

"I think there's more than enough to it to make me wanna dig a little deeper." Kraz scratched the back of his head. "We were switching to a joint operation anyhow. Seems like a good time to take the investigation a new way."

"A joint operation?" Emilia asked. When they said that I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. And that was when the doors behind us opened.

"The Guardians and Little Wing will be conducting investigations into the missing persons together." Said a familiar voice that had left a chill down my spine.

"That voice-I know that voice." Emilia's expression turned sour.

"No No No No NO NO NO NO!" I continuously repeated as we slowly turned towards the door. Standing in front of us was that girl, whom I've hated since we've met.

"Hello, You look well. Emilia." She greeted.

"Lumia… I might have known!" She glared at the Guardian.

I turned to Kraz and asked…"What the hell is SHE doing here?!" while pointing at the Guardian.

"Weren't you listening? The Guardians and Little Wing are working together now. I'm the liaison." She said.

"You know each other? Perfect, she's with you then. Give her the Clad 6 tour." Said Kraz.

"A tour?!" Me and Lumia said in Unison… though she sounded more shocked, I was more annoyed…

"Kraz, I was sent here to take part in a joint investigation."

"Well, plans change. I got a hot tip I need to look into. Alone." He said. I think it was safe to say he was talking about Shizuru.

Lumia fumed. "I'm a member of the Guardians Intelligence Division! You think I would be in the way?!"

"It's not about that. Fact is, there are some things best done solo-like. Now, I need to look into this while the lookin' is good. Someone from the Intelligence Division should appreciate that. Time is of the essence, and I travel faster solo. Let me handle this one"

"Do you expect me to just sit around here twiddling my thumbs?" She continued to argue.

"Not hardly. There's one other joint operation we had planned with the Guardians." Said the boss.

"The VR battle simulation tests…" She grumbled.

"What's a VR battle simulation?" Emilia asked.

"Our Colony is equipped with a virtual reality facility originally intended for entertainment and sports," Ursula explained.

"A facility like ours can recreate a broad range of environments and scenarios. The simulation we're going to run will recreate battlefield conditions. You're our test subjects."

"Simulation? Test subjects? I don't understand." Said Yut only getting more confused.

"Well, um… It's basically like fighting in a dream to hone your skills." Emilia tried to simplify it into terms he would understand.

"That about right?" She asked me.

"Something like that…" I scratched behind my ear while trying to sound like I knew what she was talking about. Honestly, I am the last person who you should ask about technological stuff. There is a reason I failed the Guardians exam the first time around.

"Sure, give or take! The only difference from a real dream is that you'll feel pain. But you don't have to worry about getting killed or anything, Yut." She said.

"There's no way to die? How can training without consequences make you stronger?" Yut asked.

"Just try it, okay? That goes for our Guardian guest, Emilia… The whole lot of you. I'll try to wrap up things on my end by the time you're finished." With that said, Kraz went on his way.

"The VR facility is in our colony, but it's pretty far. You're better off getting there in your ship." Said Ursula.

As the 4 of us reluctantly walked out of the office.

"Oh, one more thing before you go. There's something I wanted to ask you." She said looking at me.

"We'll meet you in the ship, okay?" My partner said leaving the two of us alone.

"I don't like beating around the bush." She said.

"Not my style. So I'm going to ask you directly."

"Uh, Shoot…" Shoot? I don't think I've ever said that before this.

"Do we have you to thank for the improvement in Kraz's performance?" She asked.

"No… That would be Emilia." I replied.

"Emilia?" Ursula smiled. "Oh. Don't doubt she's part of it. But who do we have to thank for shaping her up, I wonder."

I let out a little sigh already knowing where this was going.

"There's been a marked improvement in both Kraz and Emilia since you showed up." she stared off blankly in another direction as if reminiscing on an old memory.

"Seeing Kraz investigating on his own… Well, it's good to see him like that again."

She let out a little chuckled as her expression shifted to embarrassment before returning to her serious self.

"But I guess that was before your time. We have you to thank for turning Kraz-no, all of Little Wing-in the right direction. You might be the best thing that's happened to Little Wing."

I had a lot of things I wanted to say but I stilled my tongue out of fear of showing any form of weakness.

"That's all I wanted to say." She said. "Emilia will be waiting. Better get going."

I've walked back to my ship and as I entered I saw her there standing in front of me.

"Hey, we've been waiting. I'd ask what your talk with Ursula was about, but I'm not sure I want to know. We've already been forced into enough busy work for one day."

"On that, we can agree." Lumia stood up from the seat. "I came to take part in a joint investigation, not… this."

"Don't blame us! If the boss wants to go off investigating on his own, we can't do much but wait for him to get back. And as long as we're waiting, we might as well take care of the work he left us, Am I right?"

"I suppose so." Lumia muttered bitterly.

"You don't exactly sound enthusiastic about it." Emilia narrowed her eyes with her hands on her sides.

"I'm here on official business, and I will follow Kraz's orders while I am. Enthusiasm is not a factor." She huffed.

Emilia rolled her eyes. "All business, all the time. You must be a blast at parties."

"A Guardian is expected to remain professional." I thought back to X who didn't seem at all professional, he didn't even wear his uniform.

"Look, it's not like this is the first time we've been on a mission together. Ever think of giving the act a rest?" Emilia sighed. "Aww, forget it. Let's see what this VR combat simulation is all about."

From the second the boss mentioned the "Joint-Operation" I knew this would be a pain. Though I didn't think we'd be wasting our time with a VR combat simulation…

On top of that with working with not just a Guardian but… HER.

 _VR Machine: "Populating terrain mesh. Please stand by."_

Suddenly, it was like we were in another place entirely. In the middle of a forest with a crimson sky. I guess this was supposed to be dusk. The entire experience was a little jarring, to say the least.

"Whoa. So this is virtual reality" Emilia stared around us with a look of astonishment. "It feels like we're right in the middle of a forest."

"I don't sense the trees, but I can see them. I don't see any enemies, but I sense them." Yut expression was the complete opposite of her. "I don't like it. What is this place?"

"We're not really here. I imagine that could take some getting used to, especially for you, Yut."

"No kidding…" I shook my head.

It took me a little bit for my head to stop spinning.

"Think our Guardian friend is going to lighten up anytime soon?" She asked.

"My mood is light enough, thank you," Lumia replied almost immediately.  
"I treat all my assignments equally. I'm more than ready to undertake this one."

"Your lips say 'ready,' but your eyes say 'get me out of here.'" Emilia let out a sigh as she turned to face me. "Yut's looking pretty uneasy too. Guess that means you and me are gonna have to take up the slack."

I've checked in with Rose prior to entering the VR chamber to see if our equipment would work properly in here, she didn't seem worried so I had nothing to worry about.  
Emilia said we couldn't die in here, so that took a load off.

There were 2 slow low-pitched beeps that echoed throughout the simulation.

"I think it's starting. I'm actually nervous…" said Emilia.

"It's a simulation. There's nothing to fear here," said Lumia.

I've had read the digital manual several times on the way here.

Basically, it said what we already knew.

(-Simulation-)

This is a battle training simulation. We will not be injured by attacks from creatures that appear in the simulation, but if we sustain a certain amount of damage, we would be deemed unready for the training and the simulation would be shut down.

When I read that it felt like a challenge. I was determined not to lose to this machine.

The simulation assigned points for each creature defeated, the total number of points we have racked up would be put together into a final score.

Bonus rounds would become available as we progress through the simulation, if we met the requirements, such as beating a wave within a set time limit. Defeating the creatures in a bonus room would greatly improve our score.

Something I've didn't get until after the area was decided was the scorecard, which I've looked at right when I got it.

 ** _Score Care_**

 _Booma Group: 5 point_

 _Go Booma Group: 10 points_

 _Savage Wolf Group: 20 points_

 _Rappy Polec Group: 30 points_

 _Bil De Vear: 40 points_

 _?: 120 points_

My eyes bugged out at the sight of a certain monster's name…

"Calm down… Just relax… it's not real. It's not real…" I softly spoke to myself.

 _VR Machine: Load Complete. Launching Simulation… Start!_

The second the simulation activated we've run straight ahead. In front of us appeared out of thin air were 2 savage wolves. Yut dashed on ahead quickly took both of them out in a matter of seconds, landing us 20 points.

Once the gate leading to the next area opened we've made a run for it, but we were immediately stopped by two differently colored laser fenced.

Luckily, a quick scan of the area let me find the switches to open it in no time.  
I pressed the small green button hidden in a large patch of grass with my foot.  
The green colored fence deactivated allowing us more room to search for the yellow one.

"Looks like the switches are color coded," I said as I began scanning for the yellow switch.

But that area was more like a tutorial for the next.

When we passed the next gate we were met with several more green and yellow gates, with the addition of some blue and red gates.

Other than the gates, the path was filled with spinning blades planted on the ground and floating bombs flying around everywhere.

"Think they made enough traps?!" Emilia shouted sarcastically.

"The movements are times. It should be easy to avoid." Said Lumia.

It was true that all of the traps around the area were moving.

"Be careful, points will be deducted for every trap you-." Said Rose.

"Rose? They already ran in…" I replied as I watched the others running through the obstacle course… Yut ran in, and Emilia went running after him, and Lumia followed suit, leaving me behind.

"Looks like they defeated a Booma group." She said as the point counter raised by 5 points. Suddenly a key card appeared floating in front of me and fell into my hands.

As I stood there with the key in my hands, several turrets suddenly appeared within the surrounding trees, all pointed at me.

"Well… Shite." I said as the turrets began to fire forcing me to rush my way through the obstacle course, narrowly avoiding the spinning blades on the ground as bombs started dropping around me, docking the 5 points the others have earned.

"Ugh, this is decent training, I'll give it that, but did they have to put so many traps?!" Emilia complained. "  
Just because they can't kill us doesn't mean they need to try so hard!"

"Yeah… kill US" I said sarcastically as patted out a tiny flame on my shoulder, and brushed my hand across my coat. As I checked my coat for more flames I realized there was actually no damage done.

"This isn't right…" Yut grumbled.

"You say something Yut?" Emilia asked

"None of this is right! I don't feel anything when I bring down an enemy. The pain, the fear… None of it's real!" He shouts caught my attention.

"I want to feel real pain. I want to face real danger!"

"Yut…" I trailed off. I wondered if he had ever truly stopped thinking about our encounter with the man in black a few days back. Even when he went looking for his village. A desire to get stronger had always burned within his heart.

Some mentor I was.

When I knew this kid needed some support, I left him with Emilia…

When he asked me for help searching for his village, I left him with Emilia…

"X was right… I'm pathetic." I thought as I clenched my fist.

"You never know, it might get better further in. Wasn't someone saying something about giant monsters?" When Emilia said that my eyes widened as I turned to Yut.

"Giant monsters? What are we waiting for?!" His eyes burned brighter. "We're not getting any tougher standing around here! I haven't liked this place from the start!"

Yut shot off on his own.

"Yut, where are you going?!" Emilia shouted. "We gotta stick together!"

"He'll be fine. This is all a simulation, remember?" Lumia said.

"Simulation or not, I don't like the idea of leaving him to fend for himself."

"I don't see the problem. If he dies, he dies." She scoffed.

Emilia glared at her with her hands firmly planted on her sides… I sort of glare at Lumia whenever I look at her, so nothing new on my part.

Lumia placed a hand on her side.

"Was it something I said?" She asked like she had just said the most normal thing in the world.

"If he dies, he dies?" Emilia echoed her words. "Your bedside manner could use some serious work."

Lumia's eyes went soft as she turned her eyes away and her shoulders kind of stumped.

"I didn't mean… You're taking it the wrong way."

"I'd love to hear the right way," I said sarcastically.

"Whatever. Can we just go fine Yut, please?" Said Emilia before chasing off after the Kasch boy.

I turned back to Lumia, I don't think I've ever seen her so… Vulnerable? But that didn't last very long. She tried to look professional, but all I really saw was a little girl.

I could only imagine what she was like before she joined… How could a person be so closed off?

"Damn Guardians…" I muttered bitterly.  
But then, I remembered that this could have been traced back to my own decision… if I didn't run. If I could have somehow stopped the attack on the colony, would she still have been the same?  
"Dammit…" I sighed but shook off these feelings.

"Cyruss? Are you okay?" Rose asked.

"Just peachy..." I sighed as I entered the next area.

What was different about this area was the fact there were 2 gates instead of 1 and as soon as I've arrived the others have already defeated the other monsters, and the gate on the right side.

Beyond the gate was a transporter… We entered the transporter and in front of us was this open field with tall patches of grass in the center.

"Is there a switch or-" As I stepped in the center of the room I noticed something in the grass move.  
The others readied their weapons as I stood there speechless.

"Ra-Ra-Ra…" I murmured.

"Is something wrong?" Emilia asked as I backed away from the patch of grass.

"Something's coming," Yut said as he stared intently at the grass.

And what emerged were several small orange birds with sharp beaks and a pair of long antennas.

"Aw, So cute!" Emilia squealed.

"Do we have to do this?"

Yut chased didn't waste time before trying to attack the birds.

"What's with you?" Emilia asked me.

"Cyruss… has always been afra-"  
"Bzz-Shh" I hastily shushed Rose over the com.

"Is that so?" She said with a mischievous grin as she walked over to pick up one of those birds and bring it to me.

"G-Get that away from me!" I backed away. If it weren't in her hands I'd have blasted it away.

"Aww… but it's so cute. Just look at it!" She stepped closer as she extended the bird towards me, only for it to dive out of her arms.  
As the bird flew into me it slammed its weight onto me causing me to fall back and the damn thing started to peck my face with its sharp beak.

"Get it off! EMILIA!" I shouted as I tried to shield my face with my arms.

My partner tried to pull the bird back but it only continued to try and push towards me with its beak.  
"Yut! A little help here!" She called out as she pulled on the bird, but Yut was already hunting down the others.

Suddenly, several of the other rappies rose up from the ground surrounding me, each of them pecking at me.  
"I hate RAPPIES!" I shouted.

"Uh, sorry about this…" I heard Emilia say as she summoned out her staff.  
Then, there was a destructive flash and my body was hurting all over. Rafoie, she used a Rafoie to get all of these birds off of me.

"T-Thanks…" I said as she helped me back up… despite being the one who picked up the bird. I was so glad I was a force. Even though it was a simulation, I'd take getting blown up by Emilia over getting pecked by virtual Rappies any day.

"Sorry…"

A message appeared on my goggles.  
"Sand Rappy group defeated! 120points!"

"These are worth some major points!" She shouted out.

More appeared, while Yut was fending off some of the others with Lumia's support. The thing about Rappies was that they will try to find a blind spot and charge after you, like what that one did when it dove out of Emilia's hands. And they hit like a truck.

They are the bane of my existence, and it was time for Revenge.

The Last time I fought them my arsenal of techniques was quite limited, seeing as I was much stronger than I was back then, I was ready to have some fun.

Before I knew it a yellow glyph appeared in front of me.

I was too happy to even care what brought this on. I let out a wicked laughter as the rappies ran towards me trying to intervene but a yellow bird-like creature flew passed them electrocuting all rappies in its wake.

With another group defeated, we've earned another 120… and then the simulation threw another wave of rappies at us. My body still had to recover from that attack. I swear… these rappies had the memories of the ones we just beat because the second they spawned they all turned towards me with a sinister look in their eyes…

"Rappies…" I glared at the monsters, I shook in fear with a knee on the ground. I stepped away. They charged towards me but then suddenly they were stopped by a large destructive bolt of lightning striking down in front of the crowd.

"Razonde? Lumia?" I turned around to see Emilia walk to my side. Yut and Lumia were on the other side of the field fighting off another group. "Emilia?" I smiled and turned towards the crowd of Rappies shaking in front of us.

"Alright, when you're ready. Partner." I smirked.  
My body stopped shaking and I tightened my grip,  
We've blasted the rappies together with Razonde.  
As several bolts of lightning hammered down around them they began to run away from us.

We've wiped out numerous of these birds and the ones that ran away were swiftly defeated by Yut and Lumia waiting across the field.

We've made a total of 480 points from these rappies.  
After the bonus round, it's been a while since we've actually entered a new area.  
No enemies, no traps, just a really long linear road...  
I've made a note to remind myself to tell the creators of the simulation to get rid of this portion, or at least add something in this part.  
As a training program, this simulation had its flaws.

"I feel like we've been walking through this forest forever." Emilia groaned.

"You sure we're not lost?" I asked.

"It's a simulation. They recycle terrain to save memory. If we keep moving forward, we should reach a new area sooner or later." Said Lumia.

"Where exactly are we supposed to be anyways?" Emilia asked.

"If this is a simulation, then it must be simulating SOMETHING, right?"

"That- That's actually a good question…" I said.

"This simulation was found on Rykros. It's rumoured to be built on someone's memories, though that is still a matter of contention. We're testing whether it's safe." Said Lumia.

"Rykros, huh?" Emilia spoke softly.

"Is that a problem?'

"No, not especially… Can we focus on the fleeing Kasch villager, please?" Emilia hastily tried to change the topic. "Yut! Stand still, would ya?!"

"Rykros… The seed homeworld. Huh?" I thought. The place had been sealed or something, from what I've heard.

The rest of this portion of the simulation was pretty eventless.  
We've fought some enemies, earned more points, ran through more traps, all while trying to keep up with Yut.  
This mission... has been a real pain.  
And we've run into another bonus room filled with MORE RAPPIES!

At least we've made it over 1000 points, granted most of it was due to the Sand Rappies...  
I've made another note to ask for less Rappies and more of the other monster groups, to distribute its points more fairly... not that I actually knew anything about this kind of thing.


	18. 6th Universe: Dream's End 2

Just as we left the last section the world began to twist and turn around us. The area turned from a forest to a cave with magma spewing from the walls making a stream that ran along the sides of the room and disappeared through a small hole that lead into another area.

Yut turned his head around the room. "We're somewhere different, but it's like nothing changed. Everything feels distant… weak."

"I'm not so sure, Yut. I think we're in for something big here." Said Emilia before furrowing her brow. "So would you knock off the running already?"

"But taking risks is the only way to get any real training out of this place! I can practically feel my senses dulling. I have to make myself stronger!" H

"I agree. Our time in this useless simulation would be better spent on the investigation." Said Lumia, not helping our situation at all.

"It's bad enough I have to deal with Yut freaking out. Don't you start with me!"

"I thought you hated the Guardians. Why should you care what happens to me?" Emilia sprung up to Lumia and looked up into her widened eyes.

"This is between you and me, not the Guardians!" She said while pointing at her face.

"What?"

"Sure, the Guardians aren't at the top of my friends list. But I couldn't bring myself to hate you. Not after seeing how dedicated you are. And I have to admit, you even manage to look pretty badass while you're at it. I actually thought I'd like to be tough as you someday. But now look how you're acting!"

"Emilia…" I trailed off. I was surprised, she was definitely a bigger person than I was. It was weird to see someone grow up so quickly. One thing I've loved about Emilia was that certain fire within her heart that only seems to grow brighter by the day. If that makes any sense.

Lumia fell silent and her eyes once again went soft as she turned her gaze towards the ground.

"I should probably stop running my mouth." Emilia sighed as she backed away before turning towards me. "What do you have to say about it?"

I let out a chuckle. "You need to shape up… Lumia."

"You're right. I'm sorry. I always try to do everything myself. I'm not comfortable unless I'm the one in control." She turned to Emilia and smiled. "Heh. This may be the first time anyone's ever really talked to me. Not me the Guardian, not me Ethan's sister. Just me for who I am. Thank you, Emilia."

I could have made a joke like "Don't worry, I've hated you for you since we've met." But unlike Emilia, I tend to keep most of my thoughts to myself, probably a good thing.

Though, there was also the fact I thought Lumia's smile looked much better when she smiled and I didn't wanna ruin the mood.

"Sure, I guess. As long as you get the message!" Said Emilia.

"I don't think I get anything. All I know is that the only way to get stronger is to keep moving!" Yut interrupted before running away.

"Yut!" Emilia called out as the boy disappeared from our sight.

"He's too eager. Nothing you say will get through to him." Said Lumia.

"But you're settled down now… right?" She asked.

"Yes, thanks to you. I realize I may not be as perfect as I'd like to think I am."

"What's with the soul-searching? Who'd have thought a VR simulation could be so life-changing?" Emilia said oblivious to the power of her words.

"I never dreamed I'd find myself being lectured by you. In this or any reality But I suppose whoever likened this a dream may actually have been onto something after all."

"Next lesson: when to shut up!"

Lumia smirked. "Someone who doesn't know when to shut up is the perfect match for you. Now let's go find Yut!"

It was strangely refreshing to see Emilia make another friend, despite being terrible at making a first impression.

As they left to chase after Yut, I've noticed there had been a new scorecard meaning a new set of monsters.

 ** _Score Card_**

 _Evil Shark Group: 10 Points_

 _Poison Lily Group: 15 Points_

 _Pal Shark Group: 20 Points_

 _Grass Assassin Group: 30 Points_

 _Nano Dragon: 40 Points_

 _?: 100 points_

 _?: 200 points_

Two unknown enemies sitting on hundreds of points, odds were that they were bonus room enemies.

By the time I've reached the first room most of the enemies had been defeated and the time had stopped.

"Come on!" I've heard Emilia shout from across the room before running after Lumia and Yut.

I stood in slumped over with my hands on my knees as my chest heaved.

"I wish they'd just slow down… What a pain." I complained.

I took a second of rest before running after them.

The current score: 50

The two doors split indicated that there was a bonus room ahead, so I've taken my time getting to the next area fearing what might be waiting. As I walked our score began to increase a couple hundred points. When I made it to the area the others were already gone and the gate was wide open.

I wouldn't say we were the best team ever looking at our track record for missions we've managed to stay together.

When I caught up to them they were in this mechanical room with a metal floor in the center was this large naturally formed stone pillar. Emilia and Lumia stood on the other side of the room with a yellow fence fighting off a giant mantis-like creature with long blades for arms.

"Cyruss! Yut took the key and ran on ahead!" Emilia said through the com as she dodged the monster's swipe. I turned towards a gate left wide open.

"You have to follow him!"

"Yeah, on it!" I said as I made my way through the gate. Our score only continued to rack up as I ran through the cave until I've made it through this long hallway filled with spiky pistons in the center of the hall was Yut who had no problem getting through.

"Yut! Wa-" I shut myself up when I realized stopping would mean death. I sort of forgot this place was a simulation, where we couldn't die. I put one step forward but jumped back as the piston pushed down in front of me.

"I hate that kid sometimes…" I groaned as I leaped with my right leg forward trying to avoid getting crushed. I continued making leap after leap when the path cleared up and right before the trap could get me.

I let out a short breath of relief for getting out okay, that relief was short lived when I saw what was in front of us. A twin-tailed dragon flying above us before landing on its two legs.

The kid shouted loudly as he charged at the dragon with his spear. It spun around swinging its tail but the Kasch boy jumped over avoiding the swipe as he thrust his spear forwards. The dragon quickly retorted by blasting him with a roar followed by a burst of fire knocking away the boy back.

As Yut hit the ground he rolled back but effortlessly recovered before charging again.

I scanned the dragon…

Dragon / FIRE

"Would you look at that…" I muttered as Yut continuously tried to fight the dragon but to no avail.

I lifted my left arm and within my palm, a bright light shined in sync with my tech-mag

"Barta!" I shouted as I launched my attack, a big bright cold light tore apart the as it dragged through it while leaving behind a trail of large icy spikes, until it struck the dragon.

The dragon was frozen to the ground, the spikes around it impaling its skin caused it to let out a violent cry. Yut took the opportunity to strike but before he could land a direct attack the dragon flapped its wings and took flight.

The monster roared as it stared down at us with an evil look in its eye. The dragon started spewing fireballs as it glided around. Yut pulled out his bow and started shooting in rapid succession as fire rained down around him.

"Gizonde" I called out summoning an electric sphere around us blocking the fireballs.

Suddenly the dragon took a swan dive down towards us.  
"Move!" Me and Yut ran in separate directions as he came crashing down, once it touched the earth it went burrowing underneath leaving a magma-filled crater in the ground that spewed out large chunks of hot rocks.

"Where do you think you're going? Nosdiga!" I've sent several stone snakes underneath the ground to track the dragon down and flush him out.

The kid seemed ready because as the Dragon rose Yut was there waiting for him with his spear. The kid while on the Dragon's back struck it's wing causing it to crash down into the ground before getting thrown off by the shock.

At that moment Emilia and Lumia entered the room and rushed over to our side. The Dragon stood up with a torn wing and let out a deafening roar. "Lumia! Emilia! Hit it with a Ra-Barta!"

With their staves raised over their heads, they've charged over their heads and my tech mag floating in front of me, we've struck the dragon together in a large icy explosion.

"Is that all? I'm ready for more!" Said Yut with that same determined look in his eye… and thus I learned determination can lead to self-destructive behaviour.

"You've gotta be kidding me?" I sighed.

"Yut! C'mere, would ya?" She narrowed her eyes.

Yut approached Emilia.

"We finally found something challenging but it's not enough!"

"The simulation's over, so that'll have to do for now." She said "But there's one… more… thing!" And… she punched him.

Yut held his cheek "Ow! What's the big idea?!"

Not gonna lie, it was sort of satisfying to see.

"You can't go running off by yourself like that! Did you ever think about what you were putting us through? Keep it up and you'll get yourself killed for real!" She scolded.

"But if we don't test our limits, how can we learn?" He said.

"If you're dead, what good will it do you? I know you want to learn to fight. But there's a fine line between being brave and being reckless!"

"You don't understand!" he sulked.

"Emilia's right. You can't just run off on your own like that." I agreed.

"See? I'm not the only one who thinks so. Do you get it now?" She said.

"But I have to become stronger! The man in black was so powerful. I won't stand a chance against him if I don't become stronger. I have to keep training…."

"But you don't have to face him alone." She said.

"He must be defeated, yes. But we can defeat him… together." Said Lumia, much to our surprise. "What?" She noticed us staring at her.

"You gotta learn to trust your friends more, Yut! Pull anything like this again and you can forget about getting any more pudding from me!"

\- Emilia hitting him where it hurts.

"All right, All right! I'll try to learn to work with the rest of you while we're training."

"That's more like it! Now how about a trip to the cafe as soon as we're back."

"Yeah!"

As for our final score, I completely forgot to check so I couldn't remember.  
At least I never had to go through that thing again.

* * *

Once we got back we've received a call from the office. Like almost every other mission, so nothing out of the ordinary. What was odd was that it wasn't Chelsea, or the boss calling us but rather, it was Ursula.

"Is the boss back yet?" Emilia asked.

"I just heard from him a little while ago. His investigation's going to take a little longer to wrap up." She said… but something seemed off. I didn't like it.

"The cafe, Emilia! The cafe! I want my pudding!" Yut said eagerly.

"You sure perked up when I mentioned pudding." She smiled warmly. It was good to see both of my kids back to normal.

"Great, I'm starving…" I said with a grin.

"Actually, There's something I need to speak with you about." She said.

"Speak? About what?" Emilia asked.

"Nothing to get excited about. I think Yut will explode if you keep him waiting any longer." She said with a grin.

"Oooh, Emilia! Hurry up already!" Yut whined.

"I heard you the first time! I'm coming, okay?" She followed him.

"Kraz wants to speak with us. It's about Emilia." She sounded serious,

"We'll be waiting in the office."

The line went dead leaving me with an eerie feeling of anxiety in my gut.

I went down to the CEO's office right away

"There you are." Said, Ursula, as I entered the room.

"Hello." Lumia greeted.

"Kraz asked Lumia to join us, too. Whatever he wants to talk about, I guess he wants her to hear it."

"He said it was about Emilia. He didn't give me any other details." She said.

"I don't know any more than you do, but he didn't look happy. Well, only one way to find out. Let's ask him." Said Ursula.

Kraz entered the room. "Thanks for comin'. Sorry, it couldn't wait."

I thought I felt uncomfortable when Ursula spoke but Kraz sounded way more off than she did.

"It's quite all right. I'm more concerned about why we're here." Said Lumia.

"I can imagine. So let's dispense with the, er, pleasantries and cut right to it, shall we?"

And then…

"Shizuru Shu is the man in black." He said.

"He dropped below the radar at the same time people started disappearing. And there are witnesses to back it up. But all that's academic at this point. The real question is, what's he after? If we combine the eyewitness reports with what we know ourselves, his first objective is clear: the knowledge of the Ancients."

Most of this we had already figured out, we being Emilia and I… I think.

"He's been busy collecting artifacts like the Codex he stole from the Kasch village." He said.

"You said "first objective." Are there more?" Lumia asked.

"The other day, a group of these people Shizuru's controlling attacked our colony. We don't have anything related to the Ancients around here, so I couldn't figure out why they'd attack. Them I thought they might have been after Yut since he's one of the Kasch."

The more he spoke the harder my chest started pounding, I already knew where this was going. I just didn't know how to feel about it.

"But the logs of a few unauthorized personal data requests proved me wrong. No two ways about it. They were here for Emilia."

"..." I folded my arms.

"You don't seem surprised…. You two are always together. I figured you might have noticed someone was after her."

"So what now?" Ursula asked. "Use her as bait to lure out Shizuru?"

"Too risky. In fact, we should probably change the way we've been doin' things around here."

"Change how we've been doing things?" I questioned.

"We need to pull Emilia off active duty. It's the only way." When he said that, my fast beating heart came to a sudden stop. And I let out a short breath…

Lumia let out a gasp as she turned her head back to the door.

"Pull me off?" I heard Emilia's voice behind me.  
"What? Why?"

"Emilia!" Said Kraz.

"No, I understand. No one wants to work with me, so I'm out. Just like that." Her eyes started tearing up. "Heh. And I thought you were actually my friends… What an idiot I was!" She ran off and before I knew it I was running after her.

"Emilia!" I called out. "Rose- Lock down the ship!" I ordered as I ran through the halls.

"What's happening?"

"No time to explain- Connect me to Emilia!" Almost immediately there was a low pitched beeping sound… But it didn't come from my comm. In the center of the room was the pink-red device.

"Cyruss? Cyru-" I closed the connection as I held the visor in my hands.  
"Emilia… you idiot…" I removed my goggles stared at the device with my own two eyes.

* * *

 _"I guess I really am alone."_


	19. 6-7

I sat at the dining table in my room hunched over the pink device in my hand.

I recalled the day I received this thing.

I didn't care for it at all, at first.  
The only reason I kept it at all, was because it was a gift from my former partner.  
She collected some data from TECHNIC discs in hopes it would help me learn them faster since I stubbornly refused to use them.  
This data was what made up the "V-Force" program.

Rose entered the dining room and climbed up the chair across from me. When she sat her head was barely visible over the table covering up half of her face. Her big blue eyes went downcast almost immediately the second she saw my face.

"I couldn't find Emilia." She told me, though I didn't expect her to find the kid. Ursula had already gone through the data and found that everything we could have used to find her had been wiped clean from the system.

I didn't bother responding as I continued to stare intently at the pink device in my hand metallic hand.

"Cyruss…" She climbed up on the table and crawled towards me. I looked up and saw a tiny child-like smile.

"It'll be okay! I'm going to continue to search for her. So cheer up? Okay?" Her voice sounded genuine and her eyes shined bright pink as she looked me in the eye.

I winced in pain as an image popped into my head. An image of light that had quickly began to shatter and leaving me with nothing but darkness. I let out a shout as I fell out of my chair with both hands cradle my head and closed my eyes.

"Cyruss?!" She leapt from the table and rushed over to my side.

"Get away from me!" I pushed her back with my arm. My heart began to race followed by a sharp pain in my chest. I trembled uncontrollably as I rocked back and forth on the floor as the world faded to black around me.

There was a time in the past where there was nothing but darkness. Everything was peaceful. But only because there WAS nothing. One day, something pierced through the dark and so the battle began.

The Light is what started this painful battle.

I've fought for so long each time it looks like I just might win the light just disappears leaving me alone to fend for myself.

I can't fight alone…  
I'm weak and the Darkness is so strong.

I remembered the time where there was no light, no pain.

I thought that maybe If I stop fighting for the light…  
If I just closed my eyes and close off my heart, then maybe the pain would stop.

Suddenly, I heard a voice, as well as something, shaking my body... violently.

"Why aren't you getting up? Get up! Come on! Just open your eyes."

"Emilia?" I said weakly.

"It's no fair. Why is it always like this? Why do I always end up alone?" The pain in her voice…  
it felt so real. It reminded me of the day we met, the day I died.

"Emilia," I said more forcefully as I tried to get back up but felt something forcing me to the ground.

"No. I won't let you leave me like this. Please don't leave me alone!"

And with all my strength I forced myself back up.

"Emilia!" I woke up in my bed, with my chest heaving in and out heavily.

"Cyruss?" She tilted her head.

"Guess, it was just a dream…" I said while trying to catch my breath.  
I lied back down for a minute before getting out of bed.  
I checked my pocket for the device but felt my heart skip a beat when I couldn't feel it.

"Huh? Where- Where is it?!" I frantically looked all over my coat until I felt a little tug on my sleeve.

I looked down to see Rose silently holding up the device to me in one hand and my goggles in the other with an innocent child-like smile.

"Thanks…" I patted her head before taking them.

I scratched the back of my head.  
"I guess I should go see the boss, maybe he's found something."

I followed Yut's shouting into the office, with him were out two bosses.  
"Where's Emilia? We have to find her!" He said.

"I've been tellin' ya. That's what we're fixing to do." Kraz noticed me entering the room. "There you are. You haven't heard from Emilia, have you?"

"Not a word," I said.

"Didn't think so…" He sighed as he rubbed the nape of his neck. "That damn fool. She can't hardly finish a single job without botching it up, but she cuts town like a pro. I don't know how she did it, but she managed to erase all the telemetry we might have used to track her."

I wasn't sure what telemetry was but I figured it was the same thing Rose was looking into.

"If this were an ordinary runaway situation, that would be one thing, but with the abductions that have been going on…" Said Ursula.

Kraz crossed his arms.  
"And let's not forget that Shizuru's after her, too. We beefed up security on the colony after the attack, but outside of these walls anything goes."

"Shizuru…' I growled.

"That's why, effective immediately, Little Wing's launching a manhunt to get Emilia back safe and sound. I want to put you and Yut on the search, Whaddaya say?" He asked.

The man in black with a suffocating amount of bitterness and hatred within their heart.  
The thought of facing him again made the scar on my chest burn up.  
The more I thought about it the more I wanted to run away myself… but the thought of losing Emilia scared me even more.  
I didn't wanna lose another friend, especially not to someone like him.  
Not ever again.

I placed my hand on my chest where the device was hidden away and the fear seemed to fade away.  
"I'm on it!" I said without hesitation.

Kras smiled.  
"Nobody's spent more time with her than you. I knew we could count on you."

The smile on his face disappeared as he brought up the next point.

"Still no leads on where she might have gone. I figure we start with-"

Just as he said that I felt something happen.  
I'm not sure what, but my sight faded to black the last thing I heard was Kraz's voice.

"Hrm? What do we have here?" He said in fascination.


	20. 7th Universe: What Really Matters

At first, everything was dark, everyone around me just a second ago had vanished and I was left all alone. "I can't believe how stupid I was." I heard Emilia's voice when suddenly there was a blue tinted window that appeared in front of me, in it I saw Emilia walking alongside Mika.

I immediately recognized the lush green plant life around her, she was on Parum.

"Em? Emilia!" I called out to her but my words couldn't reach her. I started pounding on the window in front of me with each strike a hollow noise resounded. I continued to call out her name but to no avail.

"To think I actually believed Yut and Lumia when they said they were my friends. Guess the jokes's on me…"I heard Emilia's voice clear as day.

"This must be some sort of misunderstanding. You've worked hard. They have no reason to let you go." Said Mika, as she followed behind Emilia.

"Thanks, Mika, but I know what I heard. They even froze my Little Wing card. I couldn't accept a single mission."

"Emilia…" Mika trailed off.

"The worst part is, I was really trying this time. I guess I'm just no good at anything."

"Grr, That-…" There was no point in talking, they couldn't hear me. As much as I wanted to shout out something, anything, I've just kept my mouth shut and listened in.

"Before, I probably would have just given up. But not anymore. I'm not going down without a fight." She said.

"What do you plan to do?" Mika asked.

"I'm going to pull off a job so big they'll have to take me seriously." The world started to fade to black as she spoke her plan. "I'm going to find proof of what Inhelt's been up to."

"Wait, what?!" I shouted in shock as I stood there in the dark until I heard the boss's voice then it wasn't long before I was back to standing in the office.

"What the-? Would someone tell me what's goin' on?!" He said though I wasn't sure how to respond.

Yut's nose twitched as he turned towards me. "I smell… Mika. Were you in contact with her? What did she show you?" Yut asked.

I'd say the thing she showed me was a memory, a conversation, she recorded. I wasn't entirely sure if that was the case, but it was my best guess.

Before I could respond the boss cut in. "Hold it. You know where Emilia is?!"

"I may have an idea," I explained what I saw in Mika's vision as much as I could.

"Hmm… That's restricted Inhelt territory. What's that blasted fool doing there?!"

"Hang on, Kraz. Are you going to go on their word alone?" Said Ursula.

"Frankly, it's the craziest thing I've heard." He put his hands on his side. "But it also happens to be the only thing I've heard. What choice do we have? Well, if we're gonna be pokin' around Inhelt, we're gonna need clearance. If it's not one thing, it's another…"

"Clearance?" I thought.

"Hey, Chelsea! I need you to call up the Guardians. Get me the toppest brass you can scare up in the Intelligence Division." He ordered.

I took in a deep breath and screamed aloud within my mind before exhaling calmly and forced a smile over my clenched teeth. "Suck it up," I told myself.

"Tout suite!" Chelsea said before rushing off to make the call…

Still can't understand what she said.

"As for you, get down to Parum on the double!" He continued to bark." I'll see what else I can find out. The Guardians know someone's gunning for Emilia. Meet up with them down there and search for her together."

It was actually refreshing to see him act like a real boss.

"And if you do find that little pest. You bring her straight here, you got me?" He said.

"Heh, Gotcha," I replied.

"Now get out there and find her!" And we were off to find our runaway.

Yut and I were alone in the ship, Emilia usually talked with the kid in the back to keep him preoccupied before we reached the mission site. Sitting here with him alone was a little unsettling, to say the least.

Not that I didn't like the kid but rather, I am reminded how I've let him down more than once, I didn't even know what to say.

"Nobody likes being alone." Yut broke the silence in the ship. He stood at the back of the ship with his arms crossed and eyes down to the floor.

"After I lost my brother, I felt like I was the only one in the world. I bet that's how Emilia feels."

"I bet you're right…" I said in agreement as I walked towards him. He lifted his head and turned to me. "But that's why we're here… If she's lost, then it's up to us to help her out…. That's what friends are for, right?"

"Huh?" He looked at me with a blank stare for a moment. I stared back at him with a nervous grin, I crossed my arms tightly in hopes he wouldn't notice I was trembling.

A smile formed around his face as his eyes brightened up.

"Yeah! You're right!" he said.

In front of us were two women, a Newman with long straight golden-brown hair, wearing a pair of white rectangular glasses. She wore a Guardian's uniform similar to Lumia's. Beside her was a short blue Cast with pink hair and a black beret with a long pointy tip on the top. She had a couple of lines that that curved down her checks from beneath her eyes.

"You must be from Little Wing." Said the Newman upon noticing us. She gave us one look and smiled. "Heh heh. Just like Lumia said."

Under normal circumstances, I'd be concerned about what exactly Lumia had said about us in her reports but at the moment I couldn't care less. I just crossed my arms and bit my tongue.

"Oh, but you don't know who we are. I'm Maya Shidow, Guardian Research Division. And this is my associate." She turned toward the Cast beside her.

"Lou, member of the Guardians Intelligence Division." She introduced herself. But we've already met before, being mass produced, I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a guardian alive who hadn't seen her before.

Though she was a lot shorter than I from what remembered. It was a miracle she didn't remember me.

"Thank you for rendering assistance to my subordinate." She said.

"Don't mention it…" I said dismissively.

"What's a subordinate?" Yut tugged up at his collar

"Lumia. Lou is her commanding officer. She's been a different person since she started working with you." Said Maya. "I think the experience has been good for her. We all appreciate it… but we should save the small talk for later."

"We have received your mission request. Search and rescue for a missing member of Little Wing."Said Lou.

Maya looked into a file.

'We're looking for an… Emilia? Emilia… Could it be?" Maya seemed to have known her but for Emilia's sake, I didn't bother pressing the topic. Seeing as it might have been connected to her past and why she hated the Guardians.

"Our orders are to search Inhelt Corporation. Unfortunately, Inhelt has recently acquired a number of properties on Parum. Narrowing the search will be difficult." Said the Cast.

"I believe they are using these properties to hide something, but even that is not certain."

"Lou is right. Knowing she went to Inhelt isn't enough. We need something more." Maya agreed.

I turned to Yut and grinned.

"Her scent." He said with a serious expression.

"Excuse me?"

"Mika's scent. Tethis! Emilia's this way! Follow me!"

"Right behind you!" I replied. He and I ran on ahead

"Blindly trusting one's senses is not logical," Lou argued but Yut and I were already gone.

We followed Yut down around the shoreline before moving into the forest until we've received a call from the boss. "Not the first place I woulda looked. You sure Emilia's down there?" Just then Lou and Maya had caught up, but they were never too far behind, to begin with.

"We are still attempting to ascertain her location. Based on what little data we have, the improbably she is here is low." Said Lou.

"No-she's here, I know she is! Mika's scent is coming from just up ahead!" Yut argued. I didn't really see any point in trying to convince a Cast as logical as Lou to believe in Yut and his mystical nose, and there was really no need to.

"So we're down to following Yut's nostrils, eh? Well, I won't get in your way. Good luck with your search."

"Affirmative," Lou replied as the boss hung up.

"The investigation continues, then." Said Maya.

"The local fauna are behaving strangely. Proceed with caution." Said Lou, as we moved together deeper into Inhelt territory.

Monster after monster, I've cut them down without giving a second thought. At the moment all I thought was "I have to save her. No matter what!". Honestly, my mind is sort of drawing a blank on what happened, it was like my body was moving on its own based on that sole desire.

"I'm not that surprised to find creatures on the grounds, but why are they so aggressive?" Said, Maya, as we entered the next sector.

"This behaviour resembles the reported reaction of local fauna to subspace fields." Said Lou.

As they talked about that I've strayed away from the group.  
"Cyruss? Is something wrong? Your-" Rose asked.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it, just- focus on managing the limiter." My heart felt like it was about to burst out of my chest and my mind felt like it was about to split open.

"The point of the limiter is to reduce mental stress caused by your technics. It won't help you if-"

"I told you- I'm fine! Just- Leave me alone!" I snapped, I turned and noticed the others staring at me. "Let's just go…"

I've walked on ahead, my com was quiet for the rest of the sector. I didn't want to say that, I know she was just worried about me, even if she was programmed to serve, it was nice to have someone look out for me. I… wish I didn't shout at her as much as I did.

I really didn't deserve to have a PM as good as her.

As we got closer to Emilia I couldn't quite shake the feeling of doom that flew over us, It weighed down on me with every step I took, yet I marched on.

"Whew, field work is pretty tiring." Said Maya.

"If I'd known it would be this bad, I would have given more thought to a regular training regiment."

"Precisely why I volunteered to undertake this mission alone." Said Lou.

" If the Guardians are short-handed, just because I'm in the Research Division doesn't mean I don't have to step up." My ears perked up when she said that.

"The Guardians are short handed?" I raised a brow. I had no doubt in my mind that this was related to the ancients, seeing as how the man in black appeared where we've found those missing Guardians.

"We are. A lot of our people have gone missing. And not just our newer members. Even experienced veterans who fought at Rykros. I've never seen anything like it."

"The Intelligence Division is looking into the disappearances, but we have yet to find any promising leads." Said Lou.

"Didn't one of Lumia's reports say the Seed appeared when she found the missing people? It's difficult to believe, but if it's true, we could be in real trouble."

"We have received no reports of the reappearance of Seedforms, nor is there any indication of them here."

"You're just looking at the data, though. I think we may be dealing with something that transcends data. Maybe even something supernatural."

I let out a sigh. Listening to them talk about the situation when I knew what was going on was kind of frustrating. The entire thing had the stench of subspace behind it. The thoughts of anyone around when subspace is formed becomes reality, ergo the seed.

"I feel something very bad coming from up ahead." Said Yut. "I've felt this before in the cave in the mountains."

"That's where Lumia found the missing people. If what he's feeling is the same…"

"Maya, please bring up the rear. Data or no, I have a bad feeling about this." As they walked on ahead I've tried to sneak away.

"Where are you going?" Maya asked blocking my way, wit

"I've gotta make a call… You should go on ahead." When I spoke she gave me a suspicious look.

"Have we met somewhere before? Your voice sounds… familiar." She said.

I turned my head away and crossed my arms

"No, I've never met you before in my life. Uh, Can I go now? I don't have all day."

She sidestepped out of the way and I walked back into the previous area.

"What did you need to talk about?" Rose asked.

"You already know. We're going to fight the Seed and if my hunch is right we're going to lose contact."

"You want me to lift the restrictions on your tech-mag. But if I do that-"

"I'm not asking you! Lift all restrictions now!" I shouted.

She was silent for a moment before responding.

"The Limiter has been deactivated…"

Without another word, I went to rejoin the others.

The next sector was an old abandoned city filled with crumbling buildings and half of which was flooded. It was fortunate we've stumbled upon the dry part. As I walked through the thin cloud of dust I've heard the sound of fighting. Guns firing, Techniques being cast, and Yut shouting, followed by the familiar cries of monsters.

But before I could run into their direction 3 monsters jumped in front of me from one of the buildings. The body and head seemed to have a sort of pod-shaped and their arms were long and with a flat blue aura creating a fin-like blade.

"I'm really not in the mood to deal with you." I lifted up my arm and with a clenched fist but suddenly I've noticed the little tag at the side of my vision.

"Tech-Mag: Disabled" That along with an empty connection bar.

"Fine… you win" I dashed towards them and swung my blade at the one in the center, as my blade bounced off its arm the others jumped away. I continuously smashed my saber into the seed's bladed arm pushing it down with each hit, as I did that it's allied started circling around me.

For a moment all went dark and when I recovered I was in another part of the sector, a wide steel catwalk. The sound of an ongoing battle range in the distance but it seemed farther than where I previously was. The digital clock says it's been about 30 minutes since I've fought those monsters but it felt like hours have passed in my mind.

As I ran towards the noise with heavy uncoordinated footsteps on the concrete floor that had me tripping over my own feet before long and landing on my face.

My goggled flew off my face and fell down the stair.

"Son of a-" I rubbed the bridge of my nose and walked down the staircase to look for my little mask. Everything started to feel light and my sight went blurry.

Once I got down the staircase and as I crouched down to lift it up I heard a sinister laugh.

"My, you've grown quite a bit." The voice of a woman rang through the abandoned district.

"That's impossible… It can't be…" It felt like all of the air just escaped from my lungs as my heart dropped. I frantically looked around for the source of the voice.

"Glad to see you remember me." The voice echoed.

"Show yourself!" I demanded.

"Hmm, I don't think I'll be doing that"

"Grr, fine… I'll just force you out!" I rose up my arm and focused all my power into my bare hand but before I could do anything I heard a voice.

"Sai!" Yut called out behind me.

I closed my palm and placed my goggles back onto my face before turning back to face them with a smile on my face. They stood at the top of the staircase, on the catwalk.

"Where did you go?!" He asked with a serious look as he ran down the stairs.

"Sorry, There were these seedforms and I got a little turned around, I've been looking for you guys. You've seen them too, right?"

"We've definitively encountered Seedform. But when we take them down it's like swinging at clouds. What's going on?" Maya asked.

"Warning. I am detecting an unusual photon response in the vicinity. Be on guard." Said Lou. There was this large flash of that briefly engulfed the area and suddenly we were once again in a new place… causing me to be much more disoriented.

The new area we've wound up in was a large spacious hall with blue lights on the floor that bounced off the pulsating walls illuminating the room in a faint purplish glow. Around the sides of the room was this endless black pit the exception being with the bridges that lead towards doorways into the unknown rooms of this evil place.

"This terrain… It's Rykros!" Said Maya.

"R-Rykros? You mean… The Dark Planet, Rykros?" I asked as Lou scanned the area.

"Analysis complete. This is not a VR simulation. This is real." She said.

"That's impossible! All this was destroyed three years ago!" Said Maya.

"I do not understand it either. But the data is correct. What we are seeing is Rykros."

"How?"

"Mika's scent-it's very strong here! Emilia must be nearby!" Said Yut.

I shook my head and reminded myself of our mission.

"which way?" I asked.

"The smell is coming from in there. Straight ahead." He pointed towards the doorway in front of us.  
"She's in there, I know she is!" He said.


	21. 7th Universe: What Really Matters 2

A tainted place filled to the brim with a sickly darkness that made my skin crawl.  
Not to mention the number of seedforms we had to fight through. Even without using my techniques, I felt my mind spin the deeper we went into the HIVE…

"Cyruss"

"Huh?" I turned my head back to see who said my name but saw no one.

"Did you hear something?" The group turned back towards me.

"No, it's nothing."

"Oh…well, Alright." Maya took a deep breath.  
"I can feel the air wrapping it's tendrils around me… This really is Rykros."

"I attempted to get a fix on our location but the signal appears to be jammed." Said Lou.

"Huh?" I gasped. If it was just jammed now that meant a certain little robot was acting more sly than I thought possible. Of course, the signal could have been cut off sometime when they entered the sector. I never did get an answer to which it was.

"Either we've been transported to Rykros or somehow it's been recreated here… I think that's it. Like the Seed appearing through thought manifestation." Said Maya.

Before I could even attempt to think about why they'd want to revive this accursed place I heard the sound of a faint desperate cry from a familiar voice.

"Somebody… Help…"

"That was Emilia! I heard her!" Yut shouted.

"I heard her too!" I replied.

"She sounded close, we're almost there."

"Well, there's definitive someone up there, Let's go find out who." Said Maya. We followed the voice down numerous halls that seemed to stretch on forever until we've finally reached our destination, a large circular dome-shaped room. At the edges were these dark bottomless pits in the center was a group of people in matching uniform.

"Stay frosty! They're still coming!" A shout came from the center of the room.

"There's just so many! How many seed scum do we have to kill?"

There was a ring coming from us, or specifically Lou.

"The transponder code matches. They are guardians."

"You don't say..." I muttered sarcastically as I searched the group for Emilia with no luck.

"Are the hallucinating? This is exactly what happened in Lumia's report." Said Maya. I looked again and realized she was right, there wasn't a seed in sight.

"Look out! It's some kind of new Seedform!" A Guardian shouted.

A roar rang throughout the room as something appeared floating in front of them. A triangular shaped monster with metallic armour and this long tube-like tentacle that wrapped around its back.

"Lumia's reports also mentioned the manifestation of illusions." Said Lou.

"Save the analysis for later! Here it comes!"

The seed extended it's arms towards the group most of the guardians had managed to move out of the way except for one unfortunate soul who got impaled through his shoulder. The guardian screamed out in agony as the others stared it terror before readying their weapons to fight the monster.

The monster spun around while dragging the guardian's body using it to hit the others before throwing him towards the edge of the room nearly into the bottomless pit. The monster's eyes shined red as it turned towards the others that were knocked to the ground.

As we ran over to assist more Seedforms spawned right in front of us blocking our way. I rose my left arm to cast a technique but remembered it was disabled. "Damn…" I cursed. Suddenly Yut leaped over the group of seen and dashed over towards the monster attacking the guardians.

We fought the monsters in front of us while Yut assisted the Guardians in fighting that thing. Maya's techniques broke through the group quite easily. As Maya waved her staff around I inched away from her when more monsters appeared in between us. The Seed had started pushing us away widening the gap between us.

Each time we killed one two more appeared to take it's place, making it even more difficult to regroup with Maya and Lou. Yut had been keeping that monster off of the other guardians. I ran over to help out the kid but before I could do that more monsters came rushing me from the side. I blocked their bladed claw with my saber but their overwhelming numbers forced me towards the edge.

I turned my head down towards the endless void beneath my heels and clenched my teeth. I was completely surrounded without a way out. With a loud cry I swung my blade in a desperate attempt to push them back but as my weapon bounced off of them I was pushed over the edge. As I sank down into the darkness my consciousness began to slip away once more.

"I'm sorry…I couldn't- I couldn't save you…" I whispered as my body grew cold.

"I didn't care about anything else… I just wanted to stay with you. As long as you were there beside me… I didn't care… Heh, some hero I am."

"I can't understand why you'd ever have believed in someone like me… You and Emilia would have been better off with anyone else." I let out a short breath.

"…Emilia." I reached into my coat and pulled out a device that shined a bright pink light in the pit of darkness. I couldn't leave her alone in this terrible place. I had to save her no matter the cost.

I held the light firmly in my right hand and stretched out my left. The coldness left my body as a blue circle appeared above me and what emerged was a large blue bird-like creature. My hand gripped on the bird's tail as it shot up towards the surface.

As it flew out of the hole it froze the surrounding seedforms. I leaped on the floor and smashed the frozen seeds to pieces. I stared squarely at the seed with the bluebird hovering behind me with a cold cloud of air emanating from its wings.

"Konl… Please, help me. Tear them apart!" I directed the bird to towards the seedforms with my sword, it let out a high pitched shriek as it charged into the large horde of monsters. With Konl hear monsters seemed to dramatically slow down the seed and their spawn rate.

The only monster that resisted the creature's power was the tentacled beast Yut was fighting. "You alright?" I asked as I rushed over to his side with my sword out.

"Yeah! Watch out! This one's tough!" He replied with a serious look on his face.

"Alright. Let's end fast so we can find Emilia and get out of here."

The monster quickly extended its arm towards but I quickly deflected it with my sword as Yut jumped over me with his spear pointed towards the enemy. Before the monster could react I dropped my saber and with my hand, I shot out a small ray of light that pierced the beast's armor. As it let out a cry Yut thrust his weapon into the monster and pushed it into the ground causing it to disappear as it died.

Once that was settled I felt a stinging sensation in the palm of my hand. I saw a light, it was attached to my hand like fluorescent paint. It felt like it was eating the skin but I balled up my hand and endured the pain. Personally, I've never heard of a technique staying around like this but I've never cast a technique with my bare hands before this.

Lou scanned the area.

"I am no longer detecting enemies in the vicinity. The danger has passed." She said.

I approached Maya who had been checking up on the guardians.

"Er, How are they doing?" I asked.

"The missing Guardians have passed out, but I think they're okay." She said.

"But where's Emilia? She should be here." Yut looked around.

"Hey! Em! You around here?" I called out.

"Help…" She faintly replied.

"This way…" We heard Mika.

"Did you hear that? I know where she is!" He said.

"I believe he does, but we can't leave our comrades like this. We'll have to split up. You go on ahead."

"What are you waiting for? C'mon! We're almost there!"

"I'm right behind you."

We ran deeper into Rykros and before long we found her lying on the floor passed out.

"Look! It's Emilia!" Yut rushed over to her side as I followed closely behind him.

"Wake up, Emilia!" I said.

"Emilia! Emilia!"

"Stop yelling…" She groaned lazily as she sat up with her hand on her head.

"Looks like she's okay." I sighed in relief.

"What? Where am I?" She asked. The next thing I knew Rykros disappeared and we were in an old building. "This place… Is this a dream?"

"More like a nightmare, really," I replied. Fighting the Seed on Rykros was about the last thing I wanted to do. But I suppose it was worth it.

"You… Why are you here?" She looked at us with a wide-eyed expression.

"We came to help of course. Why else would we be here?" I replied.  
"Ahem. Sorry, we couldn't get here sooner."

"Help? I didn't need any help." She said glaring at me. "I can do just fine on my own. I don't need Little Wing's help!" She shouted out at us before averting her gaze.

"It's better for everyone that way…" She whispered under her breath.

"Em, That's-" I slowly reached over to grab her hand but she quickly pulled it away.

"Just keep away from me! Don't get my hopes up anymore!" She ran off down the hall.

"Emilia, look out! It's not safe here!" Yut shouted before chasing after her, leaving me in the dust.

"Grah! Why did I- Nevermind!" I chased after them.

"I could have subbed as a Vanguard but NO, I had to try and become a hunter! AND I still can't keep up with these kids!" I complained once I lost track of them.

Suddenly I heard a scream, followed by a gunshot and the sound of a battle. I followed the noise out of the building. As I emerged from the building my goggles took a second to adjust to the lighting outside.

"Boss?" My jaw dropped when I saw Kraz in front of us, standing silently in front of Emilia.

"Why? Why are you here?" She asked as a sour expression formed on her face. "Wait don't tell me. You came to fire me. Well, you wasted a trip. I already know."

"What are you doin' here?" He asked with his arms crossed.

"Why do you care? I can go wherever I want!"

"I asked you what you're doing here!"

"I'm investigating. On my own. It's a lot easier slipping in and out of Inhelt without anyone to slow me down." I'd be offended if it weren't for the fact I was probably responsible for most of the times we've been split up, that and the fact I was the slowest force I knew.

"If you don't like it, too bad! I'm not your problem anymore!" Then there was a loud smack sound.

Emilia looked completely stunned as she held her cheek.

"Not our problem? Do you have any idea how worried about you we've all been? If you weren't our problem, you think we'd come all the way down here to knock some sense into you?"

"How should I know? I'm alone now. No one has to worry about me anymore."

"You're a real handful, you know that?" He sighed as he pulled her closer into his arms.

"Kraz?"

"I just wanted to keep you safe, but it backfired. I never shoulda tried to pull you off duty in the first place."

"Keep me safe?"

"Shizuru's after you. I thought he might try to get to you while you were out on a mission. I was only trying to protect you. To keep you close. Somewhere I could watch over you myself."

Emilia was speechless.

"At least you're all right. Good thing we got here in time. If we hadn't, I… Well, I'm just glad we did."

"Kraz…"

"Wipe that guilty look off yer face. We're family, and family watches out for family-even the black sheep."

"Family?"

"That's right. Wanna guess who our black sheep is?"

"Cat got yer tongue?"

"Why do I have to be the black sheep? Your wool's pretty dark too, y'know… So how come…" She started to sniffle. "How come it has to be me?" She said with tears running down her cheeks.

"Miss us?"

"Yeah…"

"Hard bein' on yer own?"

"Yeah…"

"I'm sorry, Emilia."

"You're not alone," I said with a smile.

"I'm not, am I? I can count on you. I could… I could cry…"

"No one's stoppin' ya. You're almost more trouble than you're worth, ya know that?" Said Kraz.

"Ooooh. Be quiet!" She cried.

Emilia went back with Kraz and Yut went with me back to our ship. This mission ended on a high note, much better than I thought it would, but as much as I hoped for…

The burning light on my hand refused to go away, unsure what to do I covered it up with some bandage.  
Suddenly there was a ring on the phone.

"Ooh! Welcome back! And Emilia is safe and sound too! Magnifique." Chelsea said through the ship's com. "We are all waiting so come say 'allo when you are all done, yes?"

"Yeah, I'll be right down there."

I let out a short breath as the hung up.

When I entered the office I saw everyone inside waiting for me. "Ah, you're back. Let's get down to business. But first the brainless wonder's got something to say." Said the boss.

Everyone looks to Emilia.

"Don't call me a brainless wonder! Um… er, right. I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused. There!"

"Hmm? Oh, don't worry about that, Wonder." Said Ursula.

"What did you call-"

"Oui, Oui! We are merely happy to have you returned, mademoiselle brainless!" Chelsea joined in.

"H-Hey!"

"Pfft, Just watch it, Wonder…" I smirked.

"You too?!"

"Brainless! Brainless!" Yut chanted.

"You aren't even trying to be mean, which somehow makes it worse."

"All right, enough horsing around." Said Kraz as he moved on to the more important part of this meeting. "With the missing personnel found on Inhelt Corporation turn, things are coming to a head."

"We've joined the Guardians and the AMF in demanding an explanation from Inhelt." Said Ursula. "The subspace plans have been indefinitely shelved. Depending on how Inhelt responds, we may launch a full investigation."

"So, it looks like the brainless wonder helped us out after all. Said Kraz.

"I just don't like how quiet Inhelt's been about all this. That CEO would hold a press conference to explain a toilet malfunction. But so far we've heard nothing but silence about this." I completely forgot about that CEO, when we met the man, he didn't seem at all like the kind of guy who'd do something fishy. It didn't quite match up at all.

"I'm sure everything'll be clear soon enough." He said. "I don't see why you shouldn't take a break while things are quiet."

"Er, boss. What should I do?" Emilia asked. "I'm guessing I'm under house arrest."

"Do what you want." He said bluntly.

"Huh?"

"I've learned better than to try to keep you locked up. It's more trouble than it's worth. So get out there and do what you do. We'll help you if we can."

"So, it's okay if I hang out with you? I mean, I can fight with the team?"

"Yeah… but! You gotta stick with your partner, this time. Don't go out alone."

"Right!" She said with a big smile on her face.

Kraz turned to me.

"You're the only one I dare leave Emilia with. Keep an eye on her, got it?"

"Heh, You're asking alot from me. Y'know?" I replied. But honestly, Emilia had been right there for most of my time in Little Wing and every mission without her felt kind of weird.

"If anyone can do it, you can." He replied.

"She listens to you, see? She trusts you. Believe it. Aight, meeting's adjourned! Keep yer coms humming. I'll buzz you if anything comes up."

I returned to my room but couldn't find the little robot anywhere. As I tried to reestablish the connection to my goggles I heard a lit tap on my door. "Rose?" I opened it and in front of me was Emilia.

"Um, Got a moment? There's something I wanted to talk to you about." She said

"Alright? Come on it…" It felt kind of weird. Normally had no problem barging in here unannounced. I was pretty sure Rose mentioned that came and hung around a few times even when I wasn't here. Though, I'm not sure what exactly she does in here.

"Uh, What did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"So, what I, er…" She stammered. "what I wanted to talk about. Well, not so much talk, as, er…"

"Uhh, Need some water? Or something?" I raised a brow.

"No. I- I wanted to apologize. I'm really sorry! I know you must've been worried sick and…" She spoke all at once. "Just, sorry."

"Worried? Me… No, I wasn't-"

"You shouldn't lie so much…" Rose spoke through the visiphone surprising both of us.

"Isn't there something you're forgetting?" I quickly cut the call with my goggles before thinking about it.

"Forgetting? Oh… Er, here." I dug into my pocket and handed the visor back to her. "You dropped this…" She stared at it for a moment with a apologetic expression.

"Sorry…"

"It's fine! Don't worry about it-"

"But I am worried! I'm really sorry! I mean, you're my partner and all…It's strange… I don't remember much about when you came to rescue me… just the sound of your voice. I remember that clearly."

"Huh?" I felt my face get warmer.

"It was like I could almost feel it." She started to sniffle again. "Why am I crying? I'm not sad, really! Boy, I've turned into a real crybaby. Gotta get a hold of myself."

"Er, ahem…" I wasn't sure about how to…er, respond so I started, um… gently patting her head.

"Hey, s-stop that. I'm gonna cry more, I'm warning you!" When she said it like that it made it hard to stop.

"I don't know what I' even saying anymore. Just…" Suddenly she wrapped her armed around me tightly as she buried her face in my chest.

"Huh?" I stared down with wide eyes, then they went soft before I started cradling her head with my right arm and let out a short breath.

"I guess I just relaxed, and now I can't stop crying." She said.

"I'm not sad, really. I'm happy. I mean, it's like I'm dreaming, almost. But if this isn't a dream, keep holding me. Please. Hold me until I know what's real."

"As long as you need, I'm not going anywhere," I spoke softly with a smile.

As I held her closely I felt a few tears streaming down my cheek.

"Is this true happiness?" I asked myself.


	22. 7-8

"Hello. Can you read me? Looks like the Inhelt investigation is a go. Someone from the Guardians has come to explain the operation. I want you to hear this too. In the Little Wing office."

"That was Ursula." Said Rose.

"I heard…" I grumbled as I rolled out of bed. I grabbed my goggles left on the stuffed monster doll on the side of the desk and ran out.

I wasn't sure what brought it on but I started to recall a conversation I've had with another Little Wing employee, I'm not sure if I've mentioned her before, but her name is Kunoh.

"Sounds like Emilia is back safe. It can't have been easy, but then again, what is? All's well that ends well, eh?" The woman in red said.  
I simply nodded though I found it odd that whenever we've talked it was usually about Emilia Still, I wasn't sure if that was a can of worms that I wanted to open.

"Don't play coy with me. I can tell you want to ask me something. It's written all over your face." She said.  
"Wondering why I'm so concerned for Emilia's welfare, are you? I… used to know her. Before she came to Little Wing, that is. I doubt she remembers me. I'm sure she wanted to forget. At least, I sure hope she forgot." She briefly fell silent.

"It's not my place to talk about her past, so that's all you're getting out of me. I'm sure you'll hear the whole story soon enough. Whether you want to or not."

"Emilia's past?" I've mumbled outside of the office.

The second I entered I was immediately greeted by the familiar face.  
"Oh, I recognize you." Said the Newman woman with a big grin on her face.  
"Huh?" my eyes went wide behind my goggles as I took a step back.

"Heh heh. What perfect timing... We're in your debt for the other day. Thanks to you, we were able to rescue the missing Guardians."

"Oh, right… yeah, don't mention it..." Her name w

"What about your employee… Emilia, was it? Is she all right?" She asked.

"Yeah, a little too all right, thanks." Said the boss.  
"She should show up any time now."

"I'm quite impressed with that one's abilities." She glanced over towards Yut, who I realized was also in the room.

"Huh? Me? I haven't done anything." He replied.

"It's not what you did, but what you felt. You knew where the missing people were. I'd love to know how!" She said enthusiastically.

"How? There isn't really a how to it. You just have to relax and see the line between you and what's around you." He said.

"I'm not sure I understand, but is it true you can sense the life-force of things? Or is it their thoughts you hear? Fascinating!"

"Erm, maybe we can save the navel-gazing for later. We've got some business to discuss first." Said the boss.

"Ah, right, of course. My apologies. I'm easily distracted by these things." She said. "By business, you're referring, of course, to our investigation into Inhelt. I'm assuming you know about the joint announcement we and AMF delivered to Inhelt the other day. Well, Inhelt Corporation did not respond. Thus the current direct investigation."

"The CEO, Natsume Shu, did nothing." Said Ursula.

"Our advance team from the AMF is already on site, inside Inhelt's facilities. If they find anything out, I'll hear about it. We're to wait here, and prepare for the worst."

"Well, if the AMF's in there knocking heads together, something's bound to give soon. Maybe we'll even find out why Shizuru's after Emilia." Said the boss. I knew it had something to do with Mika, but other than that I didn't really have a clue.

Just then the door behind me opened and Emilia came rushing through.

"S-sorry I'm late! What's up with Inhelt?" She panted.

"The investigation's started already. We're supposed to wait." The boss crossed his arms.  
"Oh, and this is one of the Guardians that saved you the other day. You might want to, y'know, show some gratitude."

"Huh…" Emilia turned towards Maya who had a surprised expression the moment she saw Emilia.

"You…!"

"Maya…?" The two stared back at each other.

"It is you! When I heard the name Emilia, I wondered…"

"Huh? Emilia? You two know each other or something?" The boss asked.

"I think so…! But I can't remember where we met…"

"What are you talking about?! Don't tell me you forgot about Rykros!"

And there was that damn name again. Just hearing it made my stomach turn.

"Everyone was so worried when you left the Guardians, saying you didn't want to go back to the lab…. don't you remember?"

"Rykros…? Wait… Whoa! Whoa whoa whoa!" She had this pained look on her face as she held the side of her head..  
"N-no way..!"

"What's gotten into you, Emilia? You got a migraine?" The boss asked.

"They used me… they… the Guardians! On Rykros… we were all on Rykros!" She darted out of the room faster than I've ever seen her run.

"Yo, Emilia! Where do you think you're going, girl?!" Kraz shouted before turning to me.  
"Hey, what're you doing just standing there? She's your partner, isn't she? Go after her!"

"Maybe you should go." I said with my head toward the ground.

"Are you dense? She doesn't want ME to chase her!" He replied.  
"There's only one place she could be headed, and that's yer ship! Get going!"

I shook my head and ran out of the office as I approached the transporter I felt my entire body freeze up.  
But then I felt a strong burning sensation in my hand beneath the bandages.  
I balled up my hand embracing the pain and took a deep breath before boarding the ship.

Emilia stood there behind the pedestal in the center of the ship.  
"Who's there?! Oh. It's you."

"You alright?" I asked as I approached.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just needed to get out of there." She let out a sigh.  
"Mika… are you there?" And as soon as she called the ancient appeared.

"Always, Emilia."

"I remembered. I know where I met you now. I know everything."

"Yes…?"

"And I know why you didn't tell me. Thank you."

"It was a hard time for you to endure- so hard, you shut the memories away. I could not revisit such pain upon you."

"But I do remember. And now I won't be able to forget or ignore it again."

"Mind filling me in?" I asked.

"Yes, I mean, I will. I'll tell you what happened. And how I met Mika… I'm… I'm the same as you."

"The same as me?"

"I was dead. On Rykros."


	23. 8th Universe: Prologue to Despair

Emilia had started telling me everything she remembered about her past.  
She had lost her parents soon after she was born and, like me, she was raised in a guardian orphanage…  
Most Children who are raised there are taken in by foster parents. But she was a special case.

Because she had a certain… power.  
Her mind was like some sort of supercomputer and this had caught the attention of the researchers, who all had wanted to use her for their own means.  
In the end, they all decided that she would be used as a living part of some sort of biocomputer system: Tenma.

They never told Emilia what they planned, only that it was for the good of everyone… And so began Project Tenma.

Six years later. There was a drop in results and of course, they blamed the girl, but even then, she continued to act as their tool, because she believed that she was doing something good, for everyone, until 3 years ago.

"When the Seed were driven back, I went to Rykros as a Guardian researcher," Emilia explained.  
"There, I… I…"

Upon seeing Emilia struggling to get the words out Mika spoke up.  
"Seedforms attacked. One of her party fell, then another."

"I tried to run, really. But I'd always done everything in my head, not with my feed. I tripped, and then… The Seedforms were on me, and no one helped. I screamed, and no one came. I wasn't worth saving to them. I was just a part of a computer that didn't even do what it was supposed to."

I didn't know what else to say, what was I even supposed to say?  
I just continued to silently listen.

"I don't blame them, really. Everyone was panicking, trying to save themselves. It's understandable. But my eyes had been opened. They didn't need me. No one needed me. They'd just wanted my power. And when that didn't work…"

She was tossed aside…

"The next thing I remember, everything was getting colder, and dark… I knew, in my head, what death was. But all I felt was fear and loneliness… Then, I heard a voice."

"Mika?" I looked to the ancient.

"My body taken to serve as the vessel for humanity, I had transferred my mind to Rykros. It had been an act of desperation. I never intended to take another's body. But, when I saw her there, weeping and wounded, I could not leave her to die alone. So, I joined Emilia…"

"She came into me, and healed me."

"...Yes. I knew that made me no better than the other ancients who had taken humans for their own… but I could not let her die. I am sorry."

"No! Don't be sorry! You saved my life, Mika! It's me who should apologize. How long were you there, calling to me? And I never heard you…"

"Do not let that concern you, Emilia. The past is past. And we still have much to do in the now."

"No time for regrets, is there?" Emilia smiled before looking serious. "Shizuru must have been involved in the recreation of Rykros. We just need to find out why. If we gather enough data about the planet's reappearance and analyze it, I'm sure we'll find some clue… that's my forte, after all."

Just then there was a ring.

"Huh? An emergency transmission? It's from the boss!" She quickly answered.

"Figured you'd be there, Emilia." I heard the boss' voice over the com.

"Am I that easy to read?"

"Like a book, kid. I need you both back here, quick-like. We've got a bit of a situation on our hands." He said as the call ended.

"I guess we should go."

"Emilia?" I said as she was about to leave the ship.

"Huh? What is it?"

"Uh, Thanks… for telling me. I know it probably wasn't easy…"

"No, I wanted to tell you. I wanted you to know."

"But still, thank you."

"W-well we shouldn't keep them waiting. Come on!" She turned towards the transporter and quickly left.

"Heh, right behind you."

We went down back to the office where everyone had been waiting for us.

"Emilia. I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have brought up the past." Maya apologized.

"It's all right. What was the boss saying about a situation?"

"We lost an AMF squad on their way to an Inhelt facility." Said the boss.

"Lost?! You mean they've gone missing A whole squad?"

"Yeah. I'm guessing this is a repeat performance of whatever's been happening."

"But, soldiers of the AMF!" Maya exclaimed.  
Personally, I wasn't too shocked, Shizuru had already made it known that he was a dangerous enemy.

"What's there last known position?" Emilia asked.

"What're you going to do if I tell ya?" The boss asked.

"Find them! Isn't that why you called us?"

"Yup, yer a genius all right! Har! The place is the Habirao Forbidden District on Neudaiz. There's a pretty good chance Shizuru will show up, too, and you know what he'll be after: Emilia. That's why I'll be coming with you." He said.

"You?!" That surprised me a million times more than the AMF squad disappearing.

"Shizuru… the man in black! I'm coming, too! I gotta get the Land-Mother back from him!" Said Yut.

"Fine, fine. So it'll be the usual three and me, then."

"Um, Maya? Do you think you could get us some more data on the missing soldiers? I'd also like to see any materials on Rykros and the subspace generator project you can find…" Said Emilia.

"I'm sure I could get all that from the Guardians' database… but what do you need it for?"

"If I can analyze the data, I might be able to spot any pattern that will help us predict where they are now."

"Are you sure you want to do this? You'd be revealing yourself."

"No, I don't really want to do it. And I'm sure you're right. It will attract unwanted attention. But…" Emilia smiled softly.  
"I feel safe as a part of Little Wing."

She turned to me.  
"And there's always you to protect me if things get rough, right?"

"You know I've got your back! Just leave it to me." I said with a grin as I cracked my knuckles.

"See? No problem." Her smile widened.

"Right. You want me to send the data directly to your terminal?"

"Yes. Oh, and I'd also like to do a random scale Turing prediction while I'm at it. Still have the program I made way back when?"

"We're using it every day. I'll add that to my shopping list. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me."

"Sorry 'bout that." The boss apologized.

"No. Emilia taught me the meaning of happiness. That's reason enough for me to help you." She said. I'd ask when but it was really none of my concern.

"Thanks, Maya." She replied.

"My pleasure. Now, get going!" Maya smiled lightly.

And so we were off to the mission site.

A forest made of gray mushroom looking trees, which seemed to seem like a sort of theme for this place, with plenty of mushrooms growing around us.  
A light mist blanketed the area but had some plants with small bulb-like lights around that lit up the area.

"So this is where they were last seen?" Kraz crossed his arms as he scanned the area. "And the native fauna are going buck-wild. Sound familiar."

"Emilia, do you read me?" We heard Maya's voice through the com.  
"I've just sent the data to your terminal. There's too much to send it all at once, but I've set it to automatically push it to you in batches."

"Right. I'll adjust the buffer to avoid any conflicts and we should be good." Said Emilia.

"Thanks for that," Maya said before cutting the connection.

"Okay, I'm going to be running some parallel computations while we're going, so keep an eye out for me!" said Emilia. "What's with that sour face, Boss? You look even crankier than usual."

"It don't sit right with me to hear you using, er, big words and all."

"Hey! This is serious! It's really hard to compute high-level virtual space structures and walk at the same time!" She said with a scowl.

I turned to the boss with my arms crossed.  
"I think I see what you mean, it's rather… unsettling."

"I'm a little confused." Said Yut. "So Emilia was really smart this whole time?"

"You could at least pretend you didn't use to think I was an idiot."

"All right, Emilia-who's-not-an-idiot, I got a question for you."

"What now? Well? Out with it!" She snapped.

"Can you tell me what my brother's words meant? What does it mean to grow stronger by touching death?" He asked. She seemed sort of taken aback by the sudden reappearance of this question.

"Ah, er, actually, no. I'm not too sure about that one either."

"Huh? But I thought you were smart! You gotta understand!" He said.

"Well, psychology is outside my field of expertise, okay? How about you, Boss?"

"Hrm? Hey, leave me out of this!" The boss scratched his beard. "Except... I do kinda understand what yer brother was talking about."

"Huh? What! Tell me!"

"What it means is you can't be strong like you are now. Not yet."

"Huh?" I let out a small gasp. I gotta admit, As someone who has literally touched death, I was also interested in the topic.

"But I am strong!" he argued. "I'm not afraid to fight. I'm not afraid to die. He who isn't afraid of anything is strong!"

"Yeah, you just go thinking that and I guarantee you'll never figure out what your brother meant." That was what the boss said.

From where I stood, I thought the kid made a compelling argument for what it meant to be strong. To fear nothing would mean you could stand against anything…

But looking back on it, when I first fought the man in black I didn't really fear him at all, I ran in head first with my saber and in a fraction of a second, I was down and out.

If I ran in to attack him the second time we met nothing would have changed, of that I am certain.

So, what does it mean to be strong?

"Aight, enough chit-chat. We need to get this show on the road. We need Emilia to focus on analyzing that data. That means we gotta protect her. Hear me?" Said the boss.

"Just like any other mission! Got it!"

We went deeper into the mushroom forest. The walk wasn't too eventful, we fought a few monsters that we encountered on the road but there wasn't anything I'd like to report so I'll skip to the first terminal,

"It's a terminal!" Emilia pointed out toward the machine buried in stone and rubble.

"Looks like it's blocked off…" I said.

Kraz turned his head to me.

"Maybe a scan with the goggles will give us a hint."

"Right-" I turned my focus to the machine until someone put their hands in front of my face.

"Wait! Let me do it!" Emilia slid her finger over the device attached to her ear. A little holographic visor appeared over her eye.

"Sure, be my guest…" I said as gently pushed her hand away,

"This must be part of the subspace generator. It's broken… The creatures here must've destroyed it. There may be more terminals around."

"We better keep our eyes open! No stone unturned!" The boss said.

We continued to follow the trail before us. Over a bridge, where monsters waited for us surrounded by another terminal.

As we walked Yut went rushing up to the boss.

"...I don't know what you're talking about, Kraz. You saw me fight just now! I'm strong!"

"Don't get me wrong, you got skills. But that isn't strength. You're not strong. Not compared to this lot. Not as long as you go around saying things like, I'm not afraid to die."

"Okay, now I'm really confused! What're you talking about?!"

"Hmph." Kraz crossed his arms.

As I approached them Yut turned his gaze to me.  
"Hey, you! You understand what Kraz is mumbling about?"

"Sorry, not a clue." I shrugged.

"Hrnn? Surely you of all people know the power of death!" The boss said as though certain I would know the answer. But the answer continued to elude me.

I shrugged once again.

"Kraz… You're playing a joke on me, aren't you?" Yut said with his hands on his sides. Kraz shook his head as he let out a sigh of frustration.

"I'll give ya a hint. A man who's stronger fer having _touched death_ is the same as a man who didn't die."

"What? What's that supposed to mean?! Why isn't anyone making any sense?!" Yut said visibly getting more and more irritated by the second.

"Just cool down and think about it a bit, eh? You got plenty of time." The boss told him.

"No, I don't! I have to get the Land-Mother back from the man in black!" He shouted.

"Will you two be quiet?! I'm calculating over here!" Emilia snarled. "If you have to fight, go fight someplace else."

"Well, now we've gone an' upset Little Miss Mainframe. Looks like we'll have to talk another time." Yut reluctantly backed down, but this conversation was far from over.

And we once again walked into a new sector, with more terminals, and more monsters and traps.

"There's hardly anything left of this," Emilia complained as she finished up with the last terminal of the sector.

"And there are more than just animal tracks here!" Said Yut.

"Looks like a fight, and this device was a casualty." The boss observed the environment.

"Next time I hope they spare the device." She said. Before we walked away Yut stopped in his tracks.

"Something's coming! Something big!" He warned.

As we held up our weapons we start to hear the sound of flapping wings in the distance. I felt a chill go down my spine as the flapping gets closer.

"You have got to be-"

"Something wrong?" The boss asked. Suddenly above us was a giant yellow winged creature.

"R-Rappy G-Gugg…" I whimpered beneath my breath.  
The Rappy barreled towards us, Kraz and Yut leapt out of the way, but no matter how I would tell my body to move it refused to obey.

"Move!" I felt a hand pull me away from the Rappy's path, the Rappy crashed into the terminal completely destroying it.

The world began to spin as I heard my partner call out my name. I thought that fending off those rappies in the simulation might have rid me of this fear, but I suppose a simulation is different from reality. Or maybe it was just this particular one.

The day I mastered my first technique, I was arrogant, I thought I was invincible, I picked a fight with one and incited the wrath of the flock, they rushed to the little bird's aid, this included one similar to the one in front of is here.  
Fortunately, I had someone there to save me, my mother.  
I think that was the day I truly developed a heart.  
The day I learned what it felt like to be able to rely on someone to protect me.

And when she died-  
"Snap out of it!" I felt a sharp sting across my cheek.  
I stared blankly at my partner who continued to glare at me with a hand slightly raised.

"You need to get a hold of yourself!" She said as she started to shake me.  
I shook my head clear.  
"Thanks… I-"

"Move it!" The boss' warning was followed by the loud rumbling footsteps of the Rappy running towards us.  
I fired off a Barta at the monster without a second thought but as it reached it, the bird had charged through, breaking it with sheer force.  
Emilia and I ran off into different directions.

I took a deep breath and once I got myself grounded I was able to properly fight back.  
Despite its size, it wasn't really anything special, just another enemy that we were able to defeat it.  
In fact, the only thing it did have going for it was its size.

Once defeated the Rappy flew away and we just moved on.  
This was just another enemy after all, better not to linger.

I kept an eye on the kid, who had been strangely silent during our walk into the new sector.  
"The Kid's really working on this one, isn't he?" The boss walked up to me from behind.  
"Looks like we'll finally get some peace 'n' quiet around here."

"Isn't this a bit much? He looks like he's about to blow a fuse any minute now." I said without taking my eyes off of Yut.

"It's good for the young to worry a bit. Makes 'em tough…" He said.

I turned towards with my arms crossed.  
"Uh huh"

"I mighta been a bit irritated by his question myself. There was a detective I knew once. Headstrong, one-track mind… just like him." I turned my head towards the kid.  
"Never looking back, never wondering about anything for very long. Just did what he thought was right. A real idiot. He used to say he'd die for the right cause. A real numbskull, am I right? Forgot what's important."

"What's really important?"

"...'Course, by the time he realized what was important, it was too late. Anyhow, that kid's walking the same path he did. It's a path I don't care to send anyone else down. Know what I mean? … No, 'course ya don't. Nevermind me. Let's get a move on." He said as he walked away.

I clutched my chest as I stared at him.  
"Why'd he have to go and say that…" I mumbled under clenched teeth.  
"Cyruss?" I jumped at the sound of the robotic voice in my ear.  
"Rose…! ahem, it's nothing. I'm fine. Come on, we shouldn't fall behind."

We continued onwards until we've reached a new area with large rocky hills that covered what little sun we had. Fortunately, there were these some long-stemmed plants with glowing bulbs on the tip that lit the way. As we approached a cave Emilia suddenly stopped.

"Ugh, not a cave! I'm claustrophobic!" She said shaking in her boots.

I quickly scanned the area around us for another route, even if our trail leads into the cave.  
I put a hand on her head. She stared up at me and I calmly smiled back.

"It'll be okay, we're right here, just… stay close, and if you need anything, just let us know. Alright?"

"O-okay, yeah." She returned to her devices but the trembling persisted.  
I lagged back with Emilia. There wasn't a whole lot I could do, as much as I wanted, I just couldn't help.

The inside of the cave was lit up with those plants growing on the side, fortunately for us, there was a bit of light peaking through numerous skylights within the cave. I had some hope that this would give her some comfort, but it wasn't like I could see inside her head. Eventually, we made our way out, there were some terminals and traps within the cave, but nothing too important happened.

Once out we were greeted with a large open field.  
Emilia let out a huge sigh of relief.  
"Look, a terminal!" She said spotting the terminal just across the field just at the edge of this deep dark pit.

"Hey, wait up!" Kraz shouted as we followed behind.

"And I think it's running! Let's take a look…" Emilia started fiddling with the machine when suddenly an electric fence activated leaving her trapped in place.  
"Uh-oh"

The boss pushed me aside as he rushed up to the enclosed gate.  
"Quit foolin' around! What'd you do this time?"

"I didn't do anything!" She said.

"Over there-look!" Yut pointed towards the large electric sweeper in the distance. It's a large security robot with a large electric bumper. I suppose it's like a snowplow, just instead of pushing snow it pushes and electrocutes intruders… or people.

"Perfect." Emilia griped.

"Keep at it. We'll handle this!" The boss said prompting us to get our weapons out.

"Okay. I'll try." She turned back towards the device.

"Cyruss! Yut! It's up to us! If that thing gets through, Emilia's toast!" As he said that several monsters started appearing from both sides of the field.

"Leave the machine to me! You guys deal with the monsters!" I ran through the crowd of monsters and went directly for the sweeper.

"Barta… Max Power!" I sent a large stream of ice in the sweeper's path which was successful in stopping the machine… briefly.  
The machine proceeded to break through the ice without too much trouble.

"Damn it… Rafoie!" I tried to blow the thing up but to no avail.

"Foie! Zonde! Diga! Ra-" I threw just about every tech I could muster at it but the damn thing continued to persist.  
I was getting tired of it.  
"Alright! You asked for it!" I held out my arm.  
"Mirage Blast!… I hope…" I put all of my strength into attempting to summon it like before.

Suddenly, a large glyph appeared in front of me, as it spun around I braced myself for the beast that would appear to help me.

And I was greeted with something that looked sort of a mushroom-headed doll. Unlike the others who immediately did their thing, this one just stared back at me with the large green eye that covered most of its face.

"Ahem, so… what do you do?" I asked as the machine slowly made its way towards us.

It started back at me and tilted its head.

"Not much of a talker, eh? Well… can you do something about that?" It turns to look where I was pointing and turns back to me and nodded enthusiastically.  
"Great! Go get'em!" As I shouted that it pulled it's head off its shoulders and threw it along with its body up and up… and up, until it was out of sight.

"I don't think he's coming back…" Said Rose.

"Erm… Let's have a little faith." Just then I noticed something falling from the sky, something big.

"Cyruss?"

Suddenly the thing crashed down upon the sweeper, what followed that was an explosion and a shockwave that travelled throughout the field. When the dust cleared up, I saw what was in front of me was a giant mushroom that gradually got smaller and smaller until it changed back into the doll-like creature.  
Once it was back to normal it came running up towards me with a proud look on its face.

"Nice job buddy!" I patted its head.  
It looked happy as it disappeared.

"Sai!" The boss called.

"Ah, coming!" As I turned around I noticed a shadow came looming over me, this was followed by the sound of flapping wings. "You've got to be kidding me." I turned around to see the incoming Rappy Gogg.

"Cyruss, run!" Rose told me, though I wanted to, I couldn't do that.  
"Cyruss?" The Rappy crashed down into the ground, the bird leaned forward as it scratched the ground with its feet.  
I tightly gripped my saber with both hands to still my trembling hands.

"What are you doing?"

My saber's glow shined brighter with more power I've put into it.

"Cyruss?"

"Overriding saber's maximum photon output." I broke its limit allowing me to store an immense amount of power within.  
"What are you doing?!" She said.  
The shape began to distort with each passing second. "Just one shot…"  
"Cyruss!" Rose shouted as the Rappy charged towards me.  
"Photon Overload!" I swung the distorted blade at the Rappy and as it made contact there was a large flash followed by a thick layer of mist around me.  
I fell down to a knee and dropped the hilt of my now bladeless sword.  
I placed a hand on my throbbing chest and lifted my head up to the now frozen Rappy.  
A sharp pain ran through my head.

"That was reckless!" Rose scolded.

"I know, but I had to do it," I replied I tried to use a technique but couldn't draw up the energy.

"What?"

"What do you think would happen if I didn't stop it?" I picked up my saber and forced myself back to my feet and pulled out a box of candy from my coat.

"..."

"Take your time." I popped a piece of candy in my mouth as I awaited their answer.  
I turned my head and the monsters in the area began to disperse.  
Not that I could have done much to support them in the state I was in.

"If you recall what happened the first time that Rappy charged passed us, the answer should be obvious."  
As I walked back towards the group I gave her one more hint.  
"I was… protecting what's important." With the gate down we walked over to check on our brainless wonder.

"Thanks, guys! I'm done here." Emilia said as we approached her.

"Well? What'd you find out?" The boss asked.

"I'm still collating with the earlier data. But the AMF definitely headed further in."

"Then so do we. They're counting on us."

So, even more, onward we went deeper into the forest until we

"Welp, we've made plenty of progress without a thing to show for it. No missing soldiers, and no Inhelt activity. How're things going on yer end, Emilia?" The boss asked.

"Well, for one, it's pretty clear they were using a subspace generator here." She said without looking up from her device.  
"I'm seeing a lot of the same numbers I saw on Rykros, too… There might be a pocket of subspace around here somewhere."

"Enough with calculations! We need to find the enemy, take him out, and get the Land-Mother! That's all!" Said Yut.

She pulled her eyes away from the screen and let out a sigh.  
"Believe me, if it were that easy, I'd be all for it." When suddenly it started beeping.  
"Whoa! What the-?! My predicted results for what's going to happen next aren't looking good at all!"

"Why predict when we can just go and find out for ourselves?!" Yut ran on ahead.

"No, Yut! It's too dangerous!" Before we could get very far a monster giant cyclops-like monster appeared in front of Yut.

"Wha-Waaaaugh!" He stared up at the monster.

"What the heck is that?!" The boss exclaimed.

"Yut Even I could sense that! Why couldn't you?!" Emilia called out.

"Don't worry. I got this under control!" As he said that another once emerged from the ground and grabbed the kid with a single hand. "Waah"

"Another one?!" Emilia uttered as the beast hopping playfully in place with Yut in hand.

"Two working in a pair… One of 'em was a decoy! Clever fiends." Said the boss.

"Waaaugh!" Yut cried out.

Emilia turned to Kraz.

"Yut! Boss, we gotta help him!" She said.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious! But I don't think this decoy's going to let us pass all that easy." We could hear the sound of the monster's grip tightening around the boy, followed by a cracking noise. "Waah! Nngh! Unh…"

"Yut! Boss! We gotta help him! Quick!" Emilia cried out. I tried to summon up the strength to cast a technique but all I could muster up were a few sparks. Whether it was due to my lack of energy or because of Rose's influence over my tech-mag was unclear.

"Bah! Hey, kid! Don't go dying on me yet!" The boss shouted.

"Die…? I'm going to… die?" The boy's eyes widened as if finally just realizing what it meant to die. But as he sat there in the enemies grasp, I felt something emanating from the boy, something quite familiar… I turned my head towards my partner who looked absolutely horrified at what was in front of us.

"What was that?! Emilia… No.. I don't want to die! I'm not ready to die!" He cried out.

"That's right. Anyone can say they're ready, or they don't care if they die. But those're just words, boyo. The strong ones are the ones that come back from the edge. The ones that don't let go! So don't let go, Yut!" The boss shouted.

"The ones who come back from the edge…?" I trailed off.

The fear washed away from his face as fierce look determination took its place.

"I… I won't die…!" As he said that the light emanating from him grew stronger and stronger.

"Whoa! Is anyone else feeling this?! So much power… it's coming from Yut!" It seemed my partner couldn't believe her eyes.

"I'm gonna live!" As he shouts this out a large a creature draped in light appeared in between them, the light illuminating from the creature blinded the cyclops forcing it to release the kid. The light it projected shined down on us didn't feel normal, not bad, just weird. It's as if my strength was returning to my body all at once.

Yut turned his head towards us as soon as his feet hit the ground.

"Guys! Now it's our chance!" Following up his attack I extended my arm out towards the one-eyed monster, I summoned out the demonic creature of flames, Nui.

"Alright, Nui, Strike now! Fiery Roar!" As the monster's vision returned to it, it was immediately met with a giant flaming fist to its face.  
The Cyclops was sent flying across the field and into the mushroom tree.

The other one attacked us with its weight by cannon-balling into us but often stumbled more often than not, which allowed us to get a few hits in before it got back up. Despite their size and initial appearance these guys were not all that tough in close quarter combat, I suppose that's why they took us by surprise, but separating the two likely gave us a decent advantage over them.

As we defeated the monster in front of us there was a large painful cry from the distance, it was the other monster. It got on its knees and started pounding its fist into the ground. I tried to fire off a technique but my heart wavered and I couldn't bring myself to attack. The monster's body burst into flames and started throwing giant balls of fire at us, fire that could rival even the best forces in their top condition.

Yut charged forward towards the monster with his spear in hand, evading the attacks. The fire in his eye shined brighter than I've ever seen before. When he got close enough he lunged towards the monster just as it was about to summon up another fireball. I turned my head away just as he stuck his weapon in the monsters eye and finished it off. I clenched my fist tightly as the body's monster fell.

When we were sure the danger had passed we all rushed to the kid's side.

"I'm all right… I did it!" He said with a dumbfounded expression.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"I've felt better, but I don't think I'm hurt."

Emilia let out a sigh of relief.

"Whew! I really thought you were going to bite it back there."

"You sure near scared me to death!" Said the boss.

"Sorry! But… I finally figured out. I understand what my brother was trying to tell me. Being close to death didn't make me strong. But when I thought I didn't want to die, that I wanted to live, I found my strength." Yut explained his revelation.

"It's that wanting to live when death is so close. That's the strength my brother was talking about."

"Well, sounds like ya finally caught up with him, then."

"Yeah. Thanks, Kraz."

"I don't think I ever seen you move like that before. That must mean you're stronger now." I said.

"Yes, but I have a long way to go still. Just you wait and see!" He gave a modest smile, it seemed that now his path was clear. He finally found the answer he's been so desperately searching for.

"Right! All done gabbing? Good. Time for action. Let's move it!"

"Yessir!" Said Yut.

With that, they walked away but I once again stayed behind.

"That's the answer? What do you think?" I crossed my arms.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't care what happens to me, as long as I can… keep them long as I-…No! Not again! Not again… I can't… I'd rather die!" I felt a burning pain emanating from my hand. I stared down at my bandaged hand and let out a sad chuckle. "Heh, What's wrong with me? A guy really shouldn't cry so easily…" Then I started to laugh. "What would Laia say if she saw me like this?" I wiped away the tears from my cheeks and pulled myself together,

"I must be the weakest person ever," I muttered as I went to rejoin the others...

"And… analysis complete! My forecasts are done, too." Said Emilia, as I approached the group.

"What're you mumbling about now? Creepy girl."Said the boss.

"You're hardly one to call anyone creepy! And give me some credit. I was doing all that while we were fighting." She said.

"While WE were fighting." I thought.

"So tell me, if you're so smart and all now, why not go be a scholar somewhere? It's gotta be safer than all this." Said the boss.

"Believe me, I'd rather die. There's nothing fun about being human storage for stuff other people think is interesting. Spending my days walking between a lab and a bedroom? No thanks. Trust me, when you're a bio-computer, people think of you just as a computer. They forget the bio. So, no desk jobs, thanks." She said I couldn't blame her, from what I heard that was no way for a person to live.

"Er, Emilia…" Emilia looked up at the boss with a warm smile.

"Look, I like this job. I can be a person here! Not just part of an assembly line. So don't even think about telling me to quit, 'cause I'm not going anywhere! Got it?"

"Eh. I was planning on keeping you around for a decade or so anyway, so relax."

"Ten years then, that's a promise! Nice to have job security with the economy the way it is these days."

"Hnn? I never said… Bah, Whatever. Just don't give me any excuses to fire you, or I will. I mean it."

"Roger that! So, just in case you were wondering what I've been up to…" Suddenly her device started beeping again. "Whoa. I was right."

"What is it?"

"There's subspace up ahead. The data I've been able to gather matches the thought patterns of the missing Alliance soldiers! This vibration pattern in the ground-I has seen this somewhere before. Wait… the Denes Relic Site?! Could it be?!" She said.

"I'm not following you, Emilia. Mind explaining it in a way I can understand?" Yut looked as confused as I was.

"It's probably better if you just saw for yourself. Don't worry, you won't have to wait long. C'mon, let's go." And so we followed her into this pocket of subspace.


	24. 8th Universe: Prologue to Despair 2

I summoned a steel dagger in my hand to replace my broken saber, it was rather primitive when compared to other weapons but it was better than attempting to pound at armoured monsters with my bare fist. Rose had once again shut down my tech-mag just before the connection cut. It seemed she thought I was more of a danger to myself than the actual monsters.

The world began to twist and distort until we've found ourselves in someplace else entirely. Once more.

"Well, this is a bit of a surprise. Since when were we in a relic site?" The boss turned his head around the room in bewilderment.  
But the rest of us seemed to have been used to this type of thing by now.

"The numbers match precisely. We're looking at a perfect example of the thought manifestation phenomenon. This is the Denes Relic Site, as recreated by the memories of the AMF soldiers!" Said Emilia.

"Recreated by memories?! Huh? You lost me."

Emilia looked at the boss like it should have been obvious.  
"We've seen it happen so many times! Subspace makes people's thoughts real! There's no other explanation for it! I know it's hard to believe, but this is virtual reality made real. It has to be."

"Er, right." The boss replied, uncertainly. "Seems to me the point of all this is that the missing soldiers are in here. "

"They are… I can sense them! And something else… The Land-Mother!" Said Yut.

"Which means Shizuru's here too. He's the one recreating the relic site, just like on Rykros. But why…?"She said.  
The mention of Shizuru was enough to make my stomach turn and the hair at the back of my neck stand but I ignored it and followed the others.  
We followed Yut's nose through the large maze-like relic site while fighting any monsters that were in our way.

"The problem as I see it with fighting dreams is you never feel like yer gettin' yer hands dirty. We there yet?" The boss asked the kid.

"They're closer than they were before, but we've still got a bit to go." He said.

"They sure got themselves dragged in here pretty far… Feh Take yer eyes off 'em for a minute and they go all soft on you. The AMF and the Guardians, both." He scoffed, I tried my best to hide the smirk that formed on my face.

"I don't think they just let themselves get dragged into this." Said Emilia. "Maybe Shizuru had something they couldn't resist.

"That sounds awfully convenient for him. What kinda thing you talking about?" The boss crossed his arms.

"There was a common pattern in the brainwaves of all the missing people we found. A real unusual one. Maybe he has a device that operates directly on people's brainwaves or their psyche? That's my hunch." She said. Seeing as we're talking about a man who had time and time again brainwashed others and turned dreams into reality, that didn't seem too far-fetched he would have something that affected the brain directly.

"Maybe he could only use it on a small area now, but if he were able to expand its range to the entire system-" My breath stops as she reminded me what was at risk if we've failed.

"Hey now. I got enough to worry about without you speculating us into a real mess." Said the boss "Whatever he's got planned if we take Shizuru down before he gets around to it no problem. Am I right?"

Emilia smiled."Actually, this time you are! We need to take Shizuru out! Nice. Simple. I like!"  
I exhaled in relief at their nice and simple answer to the grim scenario she described. We wandered deeper in the ruins which mainly consisted of large spacious rooms, connected with several small halls. We've found a report left by an AMF researcher, I saved the data within my goggles thinking it might be important… it wasn't.

After going through several puzzles and fighting through several waves of monsters we made it to the final room.  
In front of us was the man in black, Shizuru Shu, with 3 red tablets floating in front of him and his back to us.

"Heh heh heh. Mine at last. Is it just me, or do the best things always come in threes? Denes, Kasch, and Rykros! All three Codices are mine! Time for my ambition to be realized. Tome for all to return to what it was!" The boss rose his gun up to the man and cocked the trigger.

"Sorry ta interrupt you when yer having fun, but you're through. Turn around."

The man in black turned around and looked down on us with his crimson eyes and flashed a sinister grin as we came into view.  
"Ah, it's you again. Seems our fates are intertwined." With a wave of his hand the thing he called the "Codices" vanished from sight.

"Tangled, more like it. You were behind the disappearances."

"I wouldn't say that I was behind them so much as I made them happen. All by myself." He said, his voice filled with the pride and confidence of a king.

"How'd you brainwash them?"

"Ah ha ha. That? Nothing too complicated. Their hollow shells are mere puppets to be manipulated."

"Hollow? What?"

"You wouldn't understand. No one whose soul is forever bound to the temporary existence of flesh could understand." Just as he said that I felt something, something familiar, it was cold yet it burned, deep inside. But the feeling passed as quickly as it came for me to clearly understand.

Emilia stepped forward.  
"You recreated this relic site to get the third and final key! And you used their memories to do it…"

"Sounds like someone's been doing a bit of thinking! You're different from the others, aren't you? Perhaps you'd like to see how subspace is really supposed to be used?" There was a bright flash and suddenly we found ourselves someplace else entirely. A large circular room, standing on a narrow bridge that led to a large machine with a round flat pedestal. As our surroundings changed I felt something build up in my chest, something heavy.

"What's that? The AMF HQ! But it's under attack from the Seed…" The boss lowered his arm as he turned his head around the room. It seemed that the change in scenery had caught him off guard.

"This is a re-enactment of what happened three years ago!" Said Emilia.

"The seed? 3 years ago?" I thought.

"I just gave form to the worst memories that rubbish held in what passes for their brains. Do you not find it a suitable nightmare to accompany you to your deaths? An unending nightmare… Watch as it spreads."

Suddenly something emerged from behind Shizuru, appearing on the vacant space on top of the machine was a giant robot in the shape of a woman, rising from the cracks of the robot's body was a thick dark gas that dispersed in the air.

The sight of this machine tainted by the seed and being used as a tool against us was like a dagger in the chest, a dagger that twists mercilessly the longer I looked at it.

"So you used subspace to recreate their memories? You're making them relive their worst nightmares! That's… that's pure evil! How could you?!" Emilia said as she glared at the man in black.

"Well, I never thought I'd see the day, but I actually agree with Emilia on this one, one-hundred percent. You're going down." Said the boss.

"Heh heh. Yap on, little pup. I see no need for me to waste my time dealing with you, so I'll simply let my nightmare do the job for me. Enjoy!" With that said Shizuru disappeared from sight and we were left alone with the giant robot.

So, the fight started, but all I could do was stare up at the machine as my heart tore itself apart. I couldn't even drum up the strength to even swing my dagger.

"I-I can't move…" I fell to one knee with a hand on my heaving chest, each breath struggled to escape my body.

"Cyruss?" I turned my head to Emilia, he voice rang in my ears. I couldn't bear the pain for much longer, my vision began to fade… I felt something churning in my stomach as I fell to my side.

"Cyruss! Get up! What's wrong?!" Emilia shook me lightly making me more nauseous.

She ran her hand over my forehead and down to my cheek, her skin felt.

"...Not again." She bit her lip.

As I slipped in and out of conscientiousness I heard the boss's voice, and Mika.. but their words were little more than distorted gibberish in my head, beyond comprehension.  
"Hold on!" Emilia's voice was the last thing I've heard before the world melted away before my eyes.

I was once again alone in a dark room with heavy chains wrapped tightly around my hands and feet. All while it felt as though my body was being burned from the inside out, but what hurt most was my heart… I screamed aloud for what felt like hours…

Time always seemed to slow in the dark.

After a while I just got tired, I ran out of energy to cry and struggle.

"Stop… Please, stop…"I pleaded weakly.

Then I noticed something shining down over me. A pair of bright red eyes looking down on me, then I noticed a giant shadow they belonged to. As I stared back at the eyes the shadow began to form into the top half of a woman… Until I realized what it was.

"Mother Brain…" I gasped, but how did I know that name?

She was hanging on the ceiling, bound by wires wrapped around her arms.

"This is my fault, isn't it?" I began to shimmy towards her. My body screaming at me to stop moving, but my mind refused to let it rest, I had to save her, I had to save them, no matter what happened to me.

I abandoned Gurhal and everyone suffered because of me… I knew of the threat the Illuminus posed, yet I lost all hope and ran. I knew I could never hope to atone for my actions… But I couldn't let them suffer any more than they had to. After a long painful crawl, I made it to the end of the dark room, I lied just below the shadow until I ran out of energy.

When I came through I was greeted with a gray sky looming above me. I was down flat on my back with a lingering pain the burned within my body, and even though it was just a dream I still felt something heavy pulling down on my wrists.

I forced myself to sit up, around me were numerous mushroom trees.

"What? What's happening…? You broke the nightmare!" I heard Shizuru say in the distance.

"That'll teach you to underestimate us! Sometimes things don't go the way you plan them!" Despite my partner's brave words, it was clear that they were at their limits. The 3 of them had fought Mother Brain all on their own and managed to break the nightmare.

It dawned on me how much of a burden I must have been, entering subspace without an aqueduct weapon, and passing out within the nightmare.  
Shizuru narrowed his eyes down at Emilia.

"That…power you possess. I sense the same wave activity as… As in me! Perhaps you're right. I've shown you far too much charity. Time to bury you."

"Wrong again. That's our line. We're taking you down, for Gurhal's sake, and Mika's!" She said.

"Mika…?! An oddly familiar name. Mika?" A sinister smile suddenly appeared on his face.

"Mika! Mika! It's you! Ha! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Whoa, he's flipping out." Said Emilia.

Mika appeared beside her.  
"Careful, Emilia. I've just found out he's king of the Ancients-" She warned.

"That's right. I am Kumhan, Sun King, ruler of the Ancients! And you are Mika, the traitor!" He said in a loud booming voice that demanded attention.

"Kumhan… So it WAS you who awakened."

"To think we meet again after so much time has passed. Eons, really. It's an honour! And to think you were against possession so adamantly. Yet here you are in her body! To stop me, I suppose. A vain attempt."

"Vain, you say?"

"Oh, but it is. I have gathered the keys. The doors to Maghara will soon open! Resistance is, as they say, futile. But I am nothing if not gracious. The Ancients are returning. I ask you again: Will you not join me?" He extended his arm to her as he silently awaited a response.

"You may have the keys, but we will stop you!" She replied.

The man in black calmly lowered his arm.

"Wa ha ha ha! I've missed you, you know that? You were always good for a laugh. I suppose I will have to kill you again, Mika, my lifelong companion, my Sun Queen!"

"Companion?! Sun Queen?! Mika?!" Emilia exclaimed.

"Yes. He was the Sun King, ruler of the Ancients… and my husband." She admitted… Strangely, I couldn't bring myself to be surprised.

"But then…!"

"There's no time to discuss this now! Our choice is clear: we have to stop him or your world is finished!"

"But… but!"

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to do what she says? How many times have I told you? Co-existence is not a realistic option. Which is why we're taking it all. Muh ha ha ha ha!"

"Co-existence?" I thought.

"Shizuru! Stop this at once!" An unknown voice called out weakly. We turned to the source of the voice, a well dressed elderly man covered in bruises.

"Natsume Shu? What's the CEO of Inhelt Corporation doing here?" The boss questioned.

"What do you think you're doing? Have you forgotten all we discussed? The last I recall, you wanted to do good for Gurhal System. What happened to that?" We wanted to bring peace… Peace for the children…" The man started coughing violently as the man in black fell to one knee grasping his chest in his hand.

"F-Father!" Shizuru cried out, though similar the voice obviously had another soul behind it.

"…Shizuru!"

"Hnnk… Impudent psyche! Who gave you permission to have your body back, hnn?" Kumhan groaned. "F-Father, I can't… You… you must stop him. Kill… me! It's the only… way. Stop him before… before the system is lost!" Kumhan forcefully reclaimed his hold over his body before standing back up.

"Hnnk! Gaah! Out of my way, failing creature of flesh!" He said as he started breathing heavily.

"What was that?!" Emilia asked.

"The real Shizuru is trying to break free of Kumhan's grip. Kumhan does not yet completely control the body… he holds Shizuru down by sheer force of will alone." Mika explained.

"Well, that was unpleasant. But the fact remains, I possess the keys. My victory is only a matter of time." With those words, he vanished from sight.

"Hunh?! He's gone!" The boss looked surprised that he could make himself disappear, despite having seen him bend reality just a moment ago.

"Wa ha ha ha! Did you think you could catch me in a place where I control subspace? The keys are met, the way to Maghara will open, and all will be as it once was! You are welcome to spend the short remainder of your lives in abject fear. Wa ha ha ha!" And he was gone, for real this time.

"As it once was…" I trailed off.

"Feh. Well, this is great." The boss turned to the CEO. "Oi,! You okay? What's going on around here?!"

"I'm sorry, I cannot-" He let out a violent cough before passing out.

"Yut, gimme a hand! This guy needs some patching up if we're going to get anything out of him."

"Right!" They rushed over to help the elderly man.

"What do we do?! He has all the keys!" Emilia sulked. Kumhan had the Keys and there was nothing we could do to stop him from opening Maghara but-

"Isn't it a little too early to give up?" I forced my aching body back to its feet.

"Huh, Cy-" Her eyes went wide as she saw me approaching.

"We're not dead yet, as long as we're still standing, we can fight," I said.

Her eyes went soft before filling back up with that determination I admired so much. Like a torch being reignited.

"...You're right! It's not over unless we give up!" She said.

I smiled, I found some pride in bringing her some hope, even if my hope was nothing more than an optimistic lie. I didn't think we could do it, but it hurt to see that light of hers dim. Maybe it was more like, I relied on it, like how the planets relied on the sun.

"That's right. All is not finished yet. We still have time." The ancient queen appeared beside us. "It will take some more time before the connection to Maghara is complete though it will not be long. He still lacks the final key."

"The final key…? You mean, we can still stop this if we stop Shizuru?!"

"That is correct."

"Then what are we doing standing around here for?! Let's get back to the office and start digging through the data! We'll leave no stone unturned, no directory searched! We need something, anything that can stop this from happening! If he thinks he can toss people into their own nightmares and rewind our world to oblivion, he's got another thing coming! He'll pay for this!" My partner said more fired up than I've ever seen her.

Though, there was still the problem of Shizuru, or more accurately Kuhman. His speed and power far surpassed anything we were capable of, and that was ignoring the fact he had the ability to turn dreams into reality.

Even so, seeing the look in my partner's eye was enough for me to believe we have a chance, even if what I felt was some sort of forced illusion, I wanted to believe that I could be whole again, that maybe I could be freed from those chains and leave the darkness.


	25. 8-9

A few days had passed since we've last seen Shizuru since then the mark on my arm started to spread to a fashion similar to glass cracking. But it didn't hurt, in fact. I've lost all feeling in said arm. I was still able to move it, but it was more like I was operating a crane.

I've replaced the bandages with a big leather glove and began using my left hand…

"What a pain…" I thought it was better than using my dead arm but not by much.

"Hey! Are you there?" Ursula's voice rang from the visiphone.  
"You need to get come to the office right now." After delivering that order she hung up.

There was not much else to do other than to head down there, so I left.  
I met Emilia in the hall and we went down together.

"There you are." Said Ursula as soon as we entered the room.

"Huh? Where's the boss?" Emilia asked. As she said, everyone was here other than him.

"He went to check on Natsume Shu." Ursula replied, "I want you to see the news-it's just about to start again."

"The news?" We turn towards the screen as Hal's usual intro started.

"Yeah, they've been playing the same thing all day!" Yut added.

"We've suspended our regular programming to bring you updates on a developing situation. We have received reports from all three planets of people falling into a comatose state." Said the reporter… In weirdly perky tone. "The onset of this condition is sudden and appears to affect members of all races equally. The governments of the three planets are working on a cure based on research into the Seed virus and related diseases."

"The Seed virus?" I thought. I questioned what line of thinking had led them to draw a connection to that.

"However, the research is proceeding slowly, and the outbreak appears to be rapidly spreading. A Guardians-led task force is on the hunt for Shizuru Shu, who sources say is somehow involved with this harrowing phenomenon."

Ursula shut off the TV.

"A comatose state?" Emilia turned to me. "It's like what Shizuru did to all the missing people! But on such a large scale?! He must have been further along in his plans than we thought!"

"Yeah, looks like… But we're not dead yet. Let's try to stay positive. All right?" I said though it was easier said than done.

"You know, you're right. We can't give up now! Even Mika said we still have time.

"As Emilia says," Mika appeared at her side. "We still have time. Though I do not know how much. I do not sense Maghara's presence yet."

"So this is our last chance to stop Shizuru."

Just then the door opened wide and an old man came hobbling in while clenching onto his side.  
The old man let out a sickly cough before collapsing onto the floor.

"Take it easy, there. Don't go dying on us now." Kraz walked up behind and helped him to his feet.

"No, I must do what my son could not, I must…" The old man coughed violently.

"Look, yer in a lot worse shape than ya think, mister. Go walking off and you won't make it too far."

"Natsume Shu?" We rushed over towards them,

"I thought he was in the hospital! What's he doing here?" Ursula asked.

"How could I rest in some hospital bed when the world as we know it is in danger?"

"Well, I appreciate yer spirit, but, at the risk of sounding rude, what can you do? This is all Shizuru's doing, isn't it? Yer one of the victims, like us?" The boss replied.

"True. Shizuru was most involved in the device's operation and redesign. The manifestation of memories was not our original intent for the device, of course."

"So… you know the cause of this coma thingy?" Kraz crossed his arms.

"The subspace generator is the cause. The disease, if you choose to call it such, transmits the consciousness of someone on the verge of death via tiny subspaces. By using its power to make real that which is unreal, it can overwrite consciousness. Ingenious, and terrifying."

"Yeah, well, maybe it's not the kind of thing you can fight with a good left hook. You got a plan?"

"It's simple, really. If the device works by showing its victims death, we need merely show them life."

"You mean overwrite _death_ with _life_?" Emilia asked.

"Precisely. Though. There are problems with this. Three problems at least. First, we'll need a specially outfitted research laboratory to perform the necessary tests." He said. I nodded along with only a vague idea of what they were even talking about.

"Er, right. Well, we don't got any laboratories at all." Kraz replied.

"And as long as Shizuru's in control at Inhelt we can't use the facilities there," Ursula added.

"So what do we do? Don't tell me we're stuck."

"Now, now, it's not like you to give up so easily, Emilia." A familiar voice came from the open doorway.

"Huh?" We turned to the 2 dressed in blue standing at the doorway…

"Lumia! And Maya! Hey!" Emilia greeted

"What's all this about you not trusting us?" Lumia replied.

"Natsume Shu. Could you use the Guardians labs to do what needs to be done?" Maya asked.

"Ah, yes. I've heard rumours about your labs, all favourable. It's quite likely our best option."

"That's one problem solved, what's next?" I asked the old man.

"Next, we'll need someone with enough _life_ in them to counteract the thoughts of _death_ that Shizuru is seeding."

"If you're talking about a will for life…" Kraz put his hands on Yut's shoulders and pushed him forward. "…then this boy here's your man. Er, boy."

"Huh? Me?" He looked confused.

"Why not? Just remember what you've learned. It'll go great. No problem!

"So, I just have to think about life? That doesn't sound too bad!" Yut smiled brightly.

"Yes, I can see the light in your eyes." Natsume Shu approached the kid. "You are… Kasch, yes? It's a risk, but one worth taking, I feel. Let's do it."

 _2 down, 1 more problem to go._

"Last, we need someone with the skill to calibrate operations on the subspace generator.

And… it pains me to admit I have no idea where we might find someone like that."

"Huh? Isn't it just a matter of using a computer to figure your parameters and plug them in?" Emilia asked. And at that moment I saw where this was going…

"Yes, but the calculations necessary to create subspace are as complicated as those that created the Gurhal System. Even if we linked the best computers across the System together it would take roughly 580 days!"

"What?! We'll never finish in time!"

"Wait. So how have you been doing your calculations thus far?" Maya asked the old man.

"Shizuru did them. By himself. He has miraculous analytical powers, coupled with rare mathematical ability. Which is how we were able to do the impossible and calculate subspace. In short: only Shizuru can do the parameter calculations we need in order to control the subspace generator. There's just no way around it." He explained.

"There is one way." Said Maya."We can use the fastest biocomputer in the Gurhal System. We can use Tenma."

Emilia's skin went pale at the mention Tenma.  
"Huh? Wait…" She stepped back.

"Don't get me wrong. I know how you feel about project Tenma, and about the Guardians, for that matter. There's just no way for us to face down Shizuru!"

"No. No way. I'm not going back in there. You can't make me!" Emilia refused without a second thought. Her entire body started shaking violently.

"Please, Emilia. You know as well as any of us that we're up against a wall here." Maya continued her pleas.

"You. Don't. Get It! I'm Emilia. Not some machine component! I'm not Tenma! I'm not going back there!" Emilia shouted.

"Emilia… All of Gurhal System is in danger and you're our only hope of survival."

 _"Hope... Gurhal's Hope…"_ Those words entered my mind… but something about it just didn't fit.. Once that was what I sought. To become a hero. Or more accurately to give hope and make a world where everyone can smile.

Me and so many others have said countless times we would give anything to save Gurhal… _We gave… we gave… we gave we gave we gave…  
_ _...She gave her life._ _To save every-_

 _"I-"_ Suddenly I head the sound of someone's feet moving along the floor.  
"Now just back off, hear? Give the girl some space." Kraz stepped in between them.

"Kraz…?" Maya looked surprised.

"I said back off. Or do I need to back you off myself?"

"But, Kraz, I don't see any way out of this unless Emilia uses her abilities to help…"

"You never change, do ya?" He muttered as he shook his head. "Show me one thing about this that's worth destroying this girl's life all over again, and maybe I'll reconsider, eh?"

"Kraz…" I trailed off.

"Boss, you don't have to-" Before Emilia could finish Yut jumped in.

"Wait! I'll do it! Emilia was the one who taught me the joy of life in the first place. If I can do something for her, to pay her back, I will!"  
 _Yut, too?_

"Yut, please!"

"Mademoiselle Emilia is smiling at last, non? It would be tragedy to lose that smile now! You comprehend? Tragedy!"

"Et tu, Chelsea?!"

"As you can see, she's very special to us. If you want her, you'll have to get through all of Little Wing first."

"Ursula! Now that's just… Ursula?"

 _"This is bad. I haven't changed at all."_ I thought with a smile as I stepped up beside them.  
"If Gurhal's only hope is her suffering then there's no way I'll accept it. If there's another way, we'll find it! If it saves her we'll find it!"

"And you. too! Thanks, guys. But… why?"

"How're we supposed to protect the system if we can't even keep our own family safe?" Kraz replied.

"Maya. You should know that you can't force her to do this. Coercion would rob her of the necessary focus." Lumia joined us.  
"That and.. I'm against this, too. We can't do this to her."

"You're the last person I imagined coming to my defence." She said bluntly.

"What, so I'm the bad guy? Great." She let out a depressed sigh. "Not that I expected anything else. Guess it's time for Plan B..

"There's a Plan B?" Lumia asked.

"Sort of. Something about the Divine Maiden's power. It's worth checking into. Sorry, Emilia, for what it's worth."

"Maya, I…" Emilia said softly as Maya stepped away to make a call. After a few seconds on the phone…

"Hey, I got through. Karen, Is that you? Got a second?"  
Emilia took a deep breath,  
"I'll do it." She said, "I'll access Tenma."  
Everyone stared at her with a perplexed expression.

"Oi, Emilia! Have you gone crazy?" The boss replied. "She just said you didn't have to do it! Isn't that what's been chewin' at you all these years? Isn't that why you left the Guardians in the first place?"

"Yeah. I couldn't stand being part of Tenma. It made me hate Tenma… and the Guardians for putting me there. But… I can't lose any of you! Not a single one! You've always had my back, so now I figure it's time I had yours. No promises or anything. I might not even be able to do it anymore. But I'll try." She said.

"Emilia, girl… You say the darndest things sometimes! Fine, if that's what ya wanna do, go do it."

"I will! Er…" He turned in my direction, "…that is, I wouldn't mind some company at least. You'll come with me, won't you?

"Eh, can't you find someone else?" I groaned.  
She smiled warmly and lightly tapped my arm.  
"No, frankly. I can't. And I won't. I need you there with me, okay?" She said as I smiled back.

"Yeah, Of course." I think back to when we first met. The light I saw in her shined so brightly, but only because my world was so dark. The difference between what I saw now and then was significantly different, but no doubt they were the same person. "Like it or not we're in this together," I added.

"Only if you're sure about this, Emilia." Said Maya.

"As sure as can be."

"All right. Then, we'll regroup at Guardians HQ I'll take Mr. Shu there. You follow in your ship, all right? Try to keep up." Maya said.

"We'll be right behind you," I replied.

Sometime later we met at an isolated research facility at the Guardians Hq

"Our whole research division was turned on its head after you left, Emilia." Said Maya as we walked down the hall. "Project Tenma was frozen. They disciplined the entire team when what they'd been doing came to light."

We pushed the door open and the machine starts up and filled the room with an array of dimly lit blue lights."I don't think anyone's been in here since the Seed invasion ended." She continued.

"Tenma…!" Emilia gasped at the sight of the large machine in front of her.

I rubbed her head. "Huh? H-Hey! What was that for? I'm not scared. Really!" She's a poor liar.

"You sure you're okay with this, Emilia?" Maya asked.

"You bet! No problem!"

" …I admire your conviction. Mr. Shu and I will begin preparations."

"Err… right! Gotta do it! Let's do it!" Emilia sat at the center of the machine with her arms and head covered by long cylinders.  
I stood in the center of the room in front of the machine with attention completely focused on my partner.

"Are you ready, Emilia?" Maya asked.

"Any time!"

"Activating Tenma… now!" As the machine activated and started to buzz loudly.

"Th-Those calculations! Look at the speed!" The old man was taken aback. "That last calibration she did would have sent the latest GRM machine into fits!"

"But that load is way too much! She won't be able to function long under those stress levels."

"Hnn… kk!" Her moans were drowned out by the roar of the machine.

"Emilia! Shut it down. Shut it down, now!" Maya ordered.

"Aaaaagh!" my body tensed up at the sound of her screams.

"Err… Hang in there! Emilia!" I shouted as loud as I can. "I'm right here! We're with you! So stay with us! You hear me?! Don't die!"

"What?! Those numbers…"

"They just keep going up! She's doing this?! She's incredible!"

"I don't believe what I'm seeing! She just created a high-complexity virtual space structure! Just like that!" They stared in awe.  
I couldn't understand what they were talking about but from the way the spoke I assumed it was good.

"I have to do it. For Little Wing… and the Guardians. For all the System! I'll do it! I'll save them!" Emilia shouted out as a surge of electricity shot out from the Machine… I stood there in front of the machine without turning away. I told her I was here and there I would stay.  
Besides, it wouldn't be the first time I suffered a few shocks for her.

The machine settled down and Emilia was breathing heavily as she stepped out.  
"Heh…Guess it wasn't so bad after all, eh?" She said before collapsing.  
Fortunately, I was close enough to catch her before she hit the floor.  
"Are you all right?" I asked.

"I'm okay… thanks. It went a lot easier with you there." She said with a soft smile.  
I didn't know how to respond, I didn't do much, but if she says I've helped I was glad to be there.  
"I probably shouldn't move around much for a bit, but don't worry. You go back and get ready. Get ready to take out Shizuru, that is."

"Right… just. Take care." I said before returning to the ship.  
Once I was alone I fell back into the front seat and let out a deep breath.

I didn't know what I would have done had I lost another partner… well…  
After hitting Shizuru with a technique that would put a nuclear bomb to shame.

After a minute of thinking I started to laugh to myself, I laughed and laughed until my eyes watered.

"Thank you… Thank you…" I wasn't saying it to anyone in particular.  
I was just happy and those were the only words that entered my mind so I said it.


	26. 9th Universe: Galaxy's End

"Hey, you're back." Ursula greeted over the comm. "And it seems like Emilia is all right."

"As all right as she could be," I respond.

"So, you must have some time on your hands, with your partner gone. And Kraz is off helping the AMF… So, new orders: let's hit the cafe, On the double."

"The- cafe?"

This wasn't the time to be resting, but as she said I didn't have much to do. However, something still felt off about this. I made my way down to the cafe as soon as I could.

Once I walked in I was greeted by a cheerful voice.

"Ooh hoo! Welcome to you! I did not think to see you here!" It was Chelsea. Sitting across from her was Ursula. I look at her confused.

"She doesn't know I called you here."

Which begged the question.

"Why did you call me here?"

"It's not about work, so ease up a little. I didn't call you for any reason, just to chat. Is that so wrong?"

The obvious lie is obvious. It seemed Chelsea had already picked up on what's going on. "Pardon, but your little lies fool no one!"

Chelsea replied not dropping her smile as she turned her head to me.

"'Sula wishes to hear many things about Monsieur Boss, n'est-ce pas?"

With the exception of that last bit, I understood what she meant.

"Chelsea! Where'd you get that idea?! And what's the problem if a manager wants to know more about their employees?"

It was weird to see Ursula look so shy… It wasn't a bad weird. I may not be comfortable with personal situations, but it's always nice to see people show how they truly feel.

"Speaking of Kraz… he's changed. He's back to the old Kraz, back when he had fire and passion. Thanks to you."

No, Not at all.

At least, I didn't see how I could have.

After all, correlation doesn't equal causation.

"It's not like he's thrown away the past. More like he's found a new way forward. No doubt Emilia's to thank for that too."

"A new way forward?"

"The way he talks about her. Like she was his daughter, after a fashion. I just hope his past doesn't come back to drag him down."

"His… past?"

"He was married once, with a child. He lost them."

Like a punch to the gut, all the air leaves my lungs with that one sentence. I was at a loss of words… as was Ursula. There was a brief period of silence until Chelsea picked up the conversation.

"That's when he started planting himself at the bar. He became like a wild, withered old shrub, watering himself with wine."

"You see…" Ursula continued. "He knew the man responsible. He'd arrested him on other charges before that. He was a good cop. A real terror of the streets, they called him. But he just quit and took up liver poisoning. That's when I ran into him again, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him."

"Ooh, oui. I am remembering your wrath. 'Sula was quite angry! Do not show me that ugly winey face! Something like this."

Ursula blushed.

"Do me a favour and never mention that again, 'kay?"

She stood up from her seat.

"Look, I'm a little thirsty. Hang on, I'm going to order something."

I took her seat as she walked away.

"Those two, Sula and Monsieur Boss, they were how you say, lovers once, yes? No. Tell no one. It is a secret. Hush-Hush."

I nodded silently in response.

"But they are both so busy, so important, they are seeing each other, but they never see each other. Comprendez-vous? Oui?"

…No idea what she meant but I just nodded along once again.

"When they meet again, what is this? Le Boss has a wife and a child! 'Sula is quite upset, as you might think. But, he did seem happy. So she drinks a toast, chin-chin, and says perhaps things are as they should be. Oh, but tragedy struck and he grew all hairy and dark she took it personally, I think."

"-"

"That was when she started this whole thing, you know? The Little Wing. Just so she could hire him as a contractor, oui?"

It must be nice to have someone who was looking out for him even after all he's been through, I can't help but be a little jealous….

But from the sound of it, everyone had it tough.

…My issues paled in comparison.

I don't have the right to complain.

After all, most of Gurhal's pain could be traced back to my mistake.

I don't deserve pity, I don't deserve compassion, I don't deserve-

"Huh? Chelsea? Didn't expect you to be here, too."

"Emilia?"

"Emilia! Welcome back! Your work is done?" Chelsea asked.

She took a seat next to me.

"I think I've done pretty much all I could. Now it's up to and Yut…"

"Hello, Emilia" Ursula sat down next to Chelsea. "Finished what you had to do? What brings you here?"

"Well, I was looking for the boss. Any idea where he's gotten to?"

"Kraz is off helping the AMF. He won't be back for some time." She said.

"GHak. Oh well. See, I found out where Shizuru's hiding."

"Think you could fill me in?" She asked calmly.

"Well, there's this secret facility, someplace that only and Shizuru know about- and someone's been using it. We might be able to stop this coma-plague he's created, but we still have to strike the heart of the problem to end it for good."

In other words-

"You need to get to Shizuru." A big smile appeared on Ursula's face. "Which means you don't have time to waste. If Kraz isn't here, it's up to us to do this. Chelsea, get ready if you would."

"Oui, Oui! Tout suite! Er, I'm on it!"

"Chelsea?! Wait-" Emilia looked surprised.

"What, you don't think we can handle this?" Ursula said with a cocky grin.

"Well, I know you could take care of yourself, Ursula, but Chelsea? What's she gonna do? Confuse him with her strange accent?"

"How impertinent! I was in the army before I became a dancer, you know. Ah, the times 'Sula and I once had!"

My partner's jaw dropped.

"...You're kidding."

Somehow, this wasn't unexpected.

"I'll let Kraz know what's going on. You all get ready to storm this facility, Let Chelsea and I know when you're good to go."

Judging from my last few assignments, I have concluded that I couldn't trust Rose to assist me. I cut off communications and made preparations elsewhere.

I didn't know much about Shi- Khuman's abilities… However, considering we were headed to an Inhelt lab. It's almost certain he'd be near a sub-space generator, that fact alone makes him infinitely more dangerous.

If we took that away, I'd still have to deal with that inhuman speed of his… I have already prepared a few things to counter that-

The most preferred way would be to use that dark mirage blast… however…

\- I lack the data and skill to force it out without some sort of emotional trigger.-

Another way would be to overcharge my blade once again and freeze him solid… However, I dismissed this option pretty early on, seeing as overloading it takes too much time.

And there weren't a lot of scenarios this would be a viable option.

That left me with one thing to close the gap between our abilities. TECHNICs. However-

With my preparations complete, I called Emilia and left the coordinates to her. We made it to this underground facility, inside we found a freight train waiting for us. Ursula and Chelsea casually boarded the train while Emilia and I slowly followed behind them.

"A private father-and-son lab, eh? Makes for the perfect hideout." Said Ursula.

"This isn't an inhelt train, isn't it? You sure we should be riding this?" Emilia asked.

"It's the only way to get there, so yes. Don't tell me you're getting cold feet?" Ursula said with a grin.

"Who? Me? O-Of course not! I just thought, what if it's a trap?"

"Heh heh. Silly. OF COURSE, it's a trap. Why else would they have so conveniently let a train here for us?"

"What? You mean you know it's a trap and you're still going to go?"

"Relax, would you? We're not entirely unprepared. Am I right, Chelsea?"

"I know tout detail of this vehicle, down to the synths it carries, oui! A complete scan."

"When'd you do that?!"

"You expect us to walk into a known trap without doing any research? Though I have to admit, the explosives were somewhat unexpected."

"Huh? Explosives?!" I exclaimed.

"We'll have to watch out for them when the fighting starts or we'll have an even bigger problem on our hands. We've been on the move long enough, I should think. Anytime now…" Just as she said that the room began to flash red followed by a loud obnoxious Beeping noise.

"They've sounded the alarm!"

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Eliminate all intruders!

Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Eliminate all intruders!"

"Right on schedule. All eyes are on us!" Ursula looked like she was having way too much fun with this.

"Right on… what?! No one told me about any schedule!"

"Fight first, then we'll talk. All right people, make it look good!"

"Fine! Fine! Let's do this!"

And so we fought through the train, from car to car.

Because of the explosives, we were reduced to using our melee weapons.

Except for Chelsea who was frighteningly accurate when she's holding a gun that's as big as her. I gripped my saber tightly in my left hand as I cut through the synths that blocked our path with my right arm dangling at my side.

"I'm guessing we're about halfway through. Too bad. I'm just getting warmed up." Said Ursula.

"You should be more careful at your age, 'Sula! L'esprit may be willing but the flesh gets wobbly, you know."

"Who are you calling wobbly? I'm in my prime. And you might want to think twice about that lingerie, yourself, Mademoiselle."

"Moi? But I am always fit as a weasel!"

"Y-you mean whistle…" Said Emilia, who looked more tired than usual. "and how could you two even h-hold a conversation? I'm so pooped I can barely talk! And here I thought I was all buff"

It was strange, it wasn't very different from what we usually went through.

Could it have been because of Tenma? I wondered.

I began to think it was a mistake to bring her along.

"Don't be too down on yourself. I think you're moving quite well these days. It's clear you've been training." Said Ursula. "Just try not to compare yourself with me, after the meat-grinder the military put me through. There's fit, and there's FIT."

"Oh, what a terrible time it was! I only have to think about it, and anything else I face, it is like nothing, you see?"

I did not… Half of the time I can only guess what she means.

It's almost like she's speaking another language.

"Wait… was the Boss in the military with you?" She asked.

"What makes you say that?"

"Just the way you move. You're like him. Like a pair, almost."

"I see. No wonder the Guardians wanted you."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. The answer to your question is yes. Kraz trained in my squad for a 's where we met." Ursula talked, though it seemed more like she was daydreaming rather than having a conversation. "I was all rules and regulations, and he was… Well, he was Kraz. The fights we had…"

She walked off.

"Um, Chelsea? Is Ursula…"

"Shhh! Look away, oui? Some things, it is better to pretend we do not see. So no one gets hurt, you understand? Mademoiselle 'Sula may look tough like a nail, but inside she is still a little girl. Take care of her, and do not speak."

"Heh. Grown-ups. I'll never get'em."

Just then there was a loud crash in the previous car along with some gunshots.

"They're attacking the back!" Just then similar noises came from up ahead.

"The Three of us can go! Cyruss go on ahead!" Ursula ordered.

"Huh? Wait-" But they were already gone. I went on by myself as they ordered.

With some trouble, I've cleared the room, with some time to spare. I sat in front of the bomb. I held my blade in my right hand but as soon as I lifted my arm, I'd lose my grip and it would slip out of my hand. With little time remaining, I needed to end this fast.

I heard a noise in the car ahead, like metal tearing. I griped my gauntlet around my saber and ran into the next car.

I entered the room and the second I saw the towering figure inside my blood went cold. In front of me was a large plant-like machine rooted in the center of the room.

It was something called a Dilla Griena, a warhead used for infiltrating spaceships and facilities. Once inside it hacks into the systems and takes control… Or so I've heard.

But from the looks of it, this was being used more like a control tower.

I shook off the feeling and charged towards the mech. Metallic vines sprouted up through the floor in front of me.

"-Shifta!"

I swung my blade, slicing through the vines as they came up, and continued my charge towards the main body. Then just as I swung my blade at the stem it was stopped in the air.

Appearing in front of me out of nowhere is a synth blocking my blade with its arm. And quickly grabbed reached for my throat with the other. I feel it's metal hand squeezing my throat tightly.

"...Hah… ugh… "

I gasp for air as I glared at the robotic ninja. I can feel my mind getting lighter and each desperate swing of my blade bashing against its arm growing weaker.

"Zonde!"

A bolt of lightning struck down between me and the mech forcing it to release me. I retreat to the entrance as more metal vines spring up from the floor of the train.

I turned to my partner standing at the entrance.

"What are you doing here? Where's Ursula and Chelsea?"

Even with my focus on the Synth in the center of the room, I could feel the kid giving me a cold stare.

"First, You're welcome- Second, I figured you could use some help and they said they could handle the rest."

"Well, thanks…" I said without taking my eyes off the synth.

"Emilia, your visor…"

"What?"

"These bots… they have some kind of cloaking mechanism to them."

Thanks to those devices, my goggles and her visor, we managed to fight them like any other enemy.

Emilia manages to keep up with the Sinow Beats' swift strikes while I'm barely able to get by with support items that increase my speed. Even when she's not at 100% it's clear how greatly she's improved since day 1.

Still, compared to that ancient, her chances of defeating him are slim at best… but I wondered… if Kuhman can use that much power in Shizuru's body, would it be possible for Emilia to draw power from Mika and even the playing field… if she were to do that than perhaps I wouldn't need to-

Nevermind.

After defeating the synths all that was left to deal with was the control tower. I once again made a charge directly at the towering mech.

"Hey- Look out!"

At that moment several vines rose up from the flooring once again directly below me. The metal vines wrapped around me, tightly cutting into my arms. Fortunately, my right arm had no feeling and my left was protected by the gauntlet.

I grinned and shouted-

"Emilia! Now! Hit it with everything you got! Before it destroys the train!" With the warhead's focus on me that gave my partner a window of opportunity to attack.

A bright blue glow surrounded my partner, this had caught the monster's attention. The Dilla Griena had two other tendrils on its side but with my partner out of its range, it had little it can do.

It spat out a swarm of something resembling large spiky balls. Even as they shot towards her she didn't move. When the balls reached her they broke apart. No, they broke apart before that.

An invisible wall of photons stood there protecting her like a barrier. A barrier she summoned, one that protected her from the swarm that battered against it.

"-Barta!"

A gigantic wave of ice broke through the swarm of balls and went straight towards the stationary target in the center of the car.

The ice turned to white dust and scattered around the room like snow with the remains of the machine. The alarms went silent and we were left in the room alone.

"...I have to stop getting saved." I muttered bitterly as the vines that restrained me slipped off. It wasn't my plan to play the diversion but that's how it ended up.

"You two looked like you were having fun." It didn't take long for the two women to regroup with us. In that time I was on guard in case any more of those damn ninjas appeared and Emilia had a minute or so to rest.

"It's a shame you missed the show." Though, if they were here it wouldn't have taken much effort at all to kill that Dilla Griena. It would make quite the Anti-Climax… however-

"Euh non, we have the company, as you say. Several heat sources approaching from the rear car!"

Just then a large group of machines entered the back of the room. Giant machines. Though, unlike the other machines, they ignored the bombs in the previous rooms and went straight here… I don't know much about machines but I wonder if they were set specifically to respond to losing their command tower.

"Weren't raw materials supposed to be scarce these days? He sure went all out."

Ursula smiled.

"It's about time, I should think."

"About time?"

"Well, Chelsea, time for some bubbly?"

"Mais Oui! I have a fine bottle right here!"

"What?" I turned back towards my partner who looked just as confused as I was.

Chelsea struts forward towards the giant crowd of robots. And Ursula grins in anticipation.

"Hello boys, Chelsea will be your server tonight. It's show time, ok?" She raises her hand and in a bright light several bottles appeared guided by her hand they spiralled around her before stopping. They floated, above her slowly circling around the centermost bottle, before it fell into her hand.

"voilà! Would you care for a taste of my champagne?"

The second she popped the corked off the bottle the others fired off into bright beams of light that shot directly towards the crowd of machines and set off a brilliant explosion at the back of the car… We were lucky this car didn't have any bombs. Or that the car wasn't destroyed by that destructive attack.

Standing in front of the piles of scrap was our receptionist. Still holding that bottle, with dozens of bottles still floating around her…She turned to us and smiled as she stretched out her arm with the bottle in hand and said. "Magnifique."

Ursula was smiling, Emilia's jaw dropped… and I had never been more terrified of the women in our company. Looking back… Had I attempted to force Em into Tenma, they would have torn me apart no questions asked.

"Whoa." A large beep sounded and the train came to a gentle halt.

"Great, what now?"

"Right on schedule. That went splendidly."

"Er, Ursula. Maybe you could explain what's going on to me? Right now? Pretty please?"

"I suppose it can't hurt. Everyone, follow me."

"Where are we going?"

"To the conductor's booth in the lead car… to complain. I've never been so jostled in my life. And the service was terrible."

My partner asked what I wanted to know. And I had nothing of my own to say. So, we just silently followed her into the next car.


End file.
